A Prince's Birthday
by SunflowerBeau
Summary: A BillDip/Gravity Falls Royalty AU! It's prince William's 21st birthday, and he's just received a very unusual gift; a captured slave boy named Dipper. Will he return him home? Or will he keep him for himself? Rated T for mild language and adult themes, but nothing graphic. Tags: Gravity Falls, BillDip, Bipper, Bill Cipher, Dipper Pines, BillxDipper, Bill x Dipper.
1. Chapter 1

**A BillDip Royalty AU! With Prince!Bill (He's called both William & Bill in this story)**

**You get no back story or context and the story tends to wander a bit sooo... good luck?**

**Enjoy and leave a review!**

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The music from the orchestra filled the ballroom and mingled with the sound of laughter and happy conversation. Women in beautiful dresses were twirled about the dance floor by their partners or standing around the fringes watching in jealousy. In the center of the crowd of dancers was the young prince who had been charming the various princesses that had caught his eye since the ball had begun. Prince William's birthday celebration was a point of excitement for the whole kingdom every year, but this year was different. This was the prince's 21st birthday, the year he would be given the title of 'Crown Prince' and become the heir to his father's throne. As such, the party was far more grand than ever before.

"Prince William." The prince halted his dancing with, yet another, young lady and turned to the servant that had called his name. "The King and Queen have requested your presence."

"Oh yes, of course." William nodded curtly before turning to the princess and placing a kiss on her knuckles, "you must forgive me, my lady, I will return shortly." The princess giggled as the prince released her hand and began to walk away. Once he was no longer in her sight, the prince rolled his eyes to himself. _"Honestly, if I have to dance with one more frivolous princess I am going to scream." _He thought to himself.

He passed through the crowd until he arrived at the head of the room where the king and queen were sitting, observing the party. He bowed slightly with a smile, "mother, father, you requested me?"

"Oh yes darling," the queen rose from her chair and walked forward to grab his hand, "we only wanted to make sure you were enjoying your party."

He placed a kiss on her cheek. "Of course mother, it's wonderful."

"I've seen you dancing with several young ladies, William," the king had risen from his own chair to join them. "Have any of them caught your attention."

The prince let out a strained laugh and looked back towards the crowd. His eyes rested on a throng of young girls across the room that were looking towards them eagerly. "No, not yet I'm afraid."

"Not to worry dear." The queen patted the top of his hand. "You still have plenty of time."

"I would like to see you settling down soon though, son," The king added quickly after.

"Yes..." William pulled his hand away and turned back to look at the women apprehensively. As they were standing there, a servant hurried quickly over to them and muttered something into the king's ear.

"Excellent! Bring it in!" He exclaimed excitedly before returning to his seat.

The prince looked between the king and the servant who was now hurrying away, "Bring... what in, father?"

"Oh, it's your birthday present, darling," His mother said as she followed after her husband. "We are just as excited to see what it is as you are!"

"Oh," William turned back to the crowd and to his parents a few more times, "yes. I see." He turned back and took his place in his own chair to the right of the king.

The room fell silent as a loud voice called attention from the main door of the hall. Standing in front of the door were two servants, one of whom was the one announcing to the room. "Prince William's birthday present from the king and queen has arrived. Please stand aside and make way." The large doors were pulled open and the previously quiet room erupted in whispers.

A group of eight people had entered the room, between them they were carrying a tall object that was covered in a red cloth. The crowd parted for them as they carried it to the front of the room and set it down in front of where the royal family was seated. Seven of the eight men stepped to the side, while the eighth took hold of the cloth but did not remove it.

"Let's see it then," The king motioned the servant forward. The servant nodded before pulling down on the cloth and removing it to reveal a large cage. Inside the cage sat a boy with his hands shackled together. When the curtain was pulled away, the boy flinched at the brightness of the lights but otherwise did not move from where he was sat, looking down towards the ground. He had a white tunic draped around his shoulders and his arms and legs were adorned with gold bracelets and bands. He had dark auburn hair that was obscuring his face as it fell in front of his eyes.

William stood to his feet in surprise the moment the curtain had been pulled away. He took several slow steps forward before stopping. "It's... a boy?" He turned to the king and queen. They looked almost as surprised as their son was, but masked their surprise better.

"Ahem," The king stood and walked up to place his hand on the prince's back, "yes, he's a... he's your personal servant, William." He pushed the prince towards the cage lightly.

William walked closer to the cage apprehensively. The noise of the crowd kept rising with murmurs and hissed whispers that the prince was painfully aware of. He was uncomfortable with the situation, but he'd be damned if he let himself show it. "Of course," He said loudly and turned with a bow, "thank you for the gift." He turned to the servants standing to the side. "Please, take the boy to my chambers." The servants nodded and covered the cage once more before carrying it from the room.

After a long moment of strained silence, the orchestra began to play once more and the crowd returned to the dance floor once again. William remained staring at the door the servants had left through. After a time, he turned away and returned to his seat beside his father in silence. The king and queen were conversing quietly beside him, but he could not make out what they were saying. He sat, looking out into the crowd blankly, with his chin in his hand.

"Ahem... William?" The king turned to him suddenly causing the prince to look up to him. "Don't you think you should return to the dance floor? I'm sure the princesses are anxious for you to-."

"I need to take care of something first," the prince interrupted him suddenly as he stood. He bowed curtly before turning and walking quickly through the nearest door. Once he'd entered the hallway, the door closed behind him and the music quieted. He walked quickly down the hall and made his way to the door to his quarters. A servant was standing in front of the door and bowed as he approached.

"The boy was delivered to your room as requested, my lord," The servant extended his hand, on his palm was a gold key.

The prince took the key and muttered a thank you before pulling the door open. He halted in the doorway. "No one is to enter, understand?"

"Yes, my lord."

William pulled the door shut behind him and slid the lock into place. He took a deep breath before turning to face the room. In the center of the room, knelt in front of the foot of the bed, was the boy. The shackles around his wrists and ankles were now connected to the bedposts, and he seemed to be shaking slightly. William approached slowly. The boy did not seem to be aware of his presence, and if he was he made no indication of it until the prince spoke, "Are you alright?"

The boy flinched, but did not look up at him. Now that he was closer, he could see the boy more clearly. The golden bands wrapped around his arms and ankles were affixed with gemstones that sparkled in the dim candle light. The white tunic hung loosely from his slim shoulders and was fastened around his waist with a gold sash. He was thin, but not in a frail way. William could see his slight muscle where it was showing. The boy seemed to be around his age, if not a little younger, and was rather attractive. His eyes fell on his wrists and ankles where the heavy shackles were fastened. Around the fringes he could see the redness from where the chains had likely rubbed his skin raw.

The prince sighed heavily and knelt down beside the boy. He reached out to take hold of his wrists, but the boy pulled them away quickly. "Please," William lowered his voice and reached for them again, "I'm trying to help you." This time the boy did not pull his hands away, but turned his head. He unlocked the shackles on his wrists and tossed them aside. He moved to unlock the ones around the boys ankles but his wrist was grabbed suddenly.

"Why are you doing this?" The boy, eyes still low, muttered quietly.

"You shouldn't be chained up like an animal," The prince responded calmly. He pulled weakly against the brunettes grip, but he did not let go.

The boy looked up at him for the first time, the prince could see the small tears pooling in his brown eyes. "That's not what I meant." His face fell again and he released the prince's arm and wiped his eyes.

William moved to unlock the cuffs on his ankles and tossed them alongside the first pair. "Look at me," he commanded.

The boy shook his head slowly. The prince sighed and reached up to grasp the boy's chin, at which he flinched away.

"It's not a request." He grabbed his cheek gently and pulled his face up to look at him. He turned it side to side gently, his eyes resting on a large graze on his cheek. "Did they hurt you?"

He was taken aback when the boy swatted his hand away. "I don't _want _your help." He pulled his knees to his chest and looked away once more. "I just want to go home."

The prince sighed once more. He was growing frustrated, this sort of defiance was foreign to him but he was striving to be patient. He walked to the wash table to collect a wet towel. He returned to the foot of the bed and knelt down once more.

"Look," he made the boy look at him once more, "I don't want to keep you here any more than you want to be kept here." He pressed the rag against the graze, causing a wince. "But, It's not really my choice."

The boy did not respond at first, only looked at the prince in a puzzled way. "Aren't... aren't you royalty?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, but I'm no-."

"Then it is your choice!" The boy suddenly shouted, smacking the prince's hand away once more.

"Look," William snapped back, his patience fraying, "I can't do anything about what the king and queen decide to do."

"So, it's their fault all of this happened to me then?!" He gestured to himself.

"All of... what?" His voice lowered with concern. Again, the boy did not answer and instead brought his knees to his chest. William took a breath to calm himself and spoke softly, "maybe I could help you more If you would tell me your name?"

The boy mumbled into his knees, hugging them tighter.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't he-."

The boy raised his head slightly, "It's Mason."

"Ah, I see," The prince held the washcloth out to him, "well, Mason, I am Prince William. But you can call me Bill if you would like."

The boy took the cloth and gingerly pressed it against his cheek. "You... you can call me Dipper."

"Dipper?" Bill questioned.

Dipper extended the rag back to the prince. "It's what my sister..." He trailed off, tears suddenly rising back to his eyes.

Bill took the rag from him and set it down beside him. He was unsure of exactly what to do. On impulse, he reached up and cupped the boys cheek gently and brushed the tears away with his thumb. Dipper looked surprised by the action, but didn't refuse it. As Bill stroked the brunettes face, he was rather confused by the thoughts crossing his mind. He couldn't help but notice how... _pretty_ the boys eyes were when he was crying. _"Strange..."_ He thought.

Dipper sniffled, moved Bill's hand to wipe his own eyes, and lowered his knees from his chest. He spoke, his sentence interrupted by sniffles, "they... they hit me when I wouldn't move out of the... the cage." When the prince furrowed his eyebrows he continued, "you asked if they hurt me."

"Oh..." Bill crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap, looking down at them. "I see."

Silence fell between the two and Dipper pulled up the hem of his tunic to wipe his eyes with it.

"Very well," The prince spoke up suddenly, "I'll have it taken care of."

Dipper looked at him curiously. "Have... what taken care of?"

Bill turned his head back to the boy and stated resolutely, "It's not right that they hurt you, I'll have it addressed." Dipper listened, his mouth slightly agape. "Don't worry, that wont happen again, I promise."

"Thank you," Dipper mumbled. The period of silence that followed was only broken by Dipper letting out a yawn.

"It's probably been a long day for you, you must be tired." Bill stood up and extended his hand down to the boy on the floor. "I'll have a room and fresh clothes prepared for you."

Dipper took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. He discovered that the prince was at least a head taller than him, making him look up to speak. "I don't think that _your_ people would like that."

Bill chuckled a little and began to walk towards the door. "What do you mean?"

Dipper, who had made no move to follow, looked down and shuffled his bare feet on the tile. "I mean that I am a _gift_," he looked up at the prince, "I'm meant to be a slave, not a guest."

"But that's... that's not right!" Bill looked outraged at the prospect. "Don't worry, I will have this taken care of."

"But what are you going to d-?"

Bill interrupted him as he reached the door, "just wait here, okay? I'll have food and clothes sent for you. I'll be back shortly." At the apprehensive look from the brunette, he smiled and continued, "don't worry, you'll be fine, I promise."

He stepped through the doorway and pulled it closed softly behind him. He began to make his way back to the ballroom, his idea being that he would be able to clarify the situation to the king and queen and, hopefully, be able to get the boy returned to wherever he called home. He stopped a maid in the hallway and asked her to deliver clothes and a tray of food to his quarters before arriving at the ballroom doors. Two guards who were stationed outside the door opened them for him and he stepped inside, the loud music and talking returning to his ears. He made his way towards the head of the room and noticed the, rather large, group of people standing around the king and queen.

The crowd parted for him as he approached. Standing directly in front of his parents were a man and a woman with a younger woman between them. As he reached them he began to address them but was cut off by the king.

"Excellent, you're back," He stood up from his chair and gestured to the people, "we have someone you would like for you to meet."

"Ah... I see." Bill turned to the people and bowed curtly, but didn't really look at them. "First, I need to talk to you about th-."

"This," His father interrupted once more, "Is the daughter of the king and queen of the Northwest, Princess Pacifica."

Bill turned to look at the young woman, his years of etiquette training kicking in and he bowed again. "It's a pleasure to meet you, princess." He kissed the top of her gloved hand and she smiled back at him.

"Well, William?" His mother stood up next to the king. "Aren't you going to ask her to dance?"

"Oh..." He looked as if he was going to refuse, but the king gave him a stern look. "Yes, of course. Please?" He extended his arm and led her to the dance floor reluctantly. They joined into the waltz that was playing. Bill, preoccupied with the thoughts of the slave-boy in his bedroom, was not paying very much attention to the woman he was dancing with. That is, until he accidentally stepped on the hem of her dress nearly causing them to fall. "Oh! I am so sorry princess, I must have lost my head for a moment."

"That's quite alright," she responded, glancing around them. "You must have been thinking rather deeply?"

"No, no, not particularly," he lied.

She looked as if she could tell he was not telling the truth, but did not remark on it. "You didn't have to dance with me if you didn't want to, you know?"

He nodded his head to where the king and queen were standing watching them across the room. "I rather think I did, princess."

She laughed. "Are you a creature of duty then, prince William?"

He shrugged. The music changed to something a little slower and the crowd on the dance floor thinned around them. "Not all of the time."

She looked at him expectantly, "But?"

"But," he continued, smiling as he glanced around them, "if I dance with _you_ I don't have to dance with _them_." The princess looked to where he had been referring and laughed at the crowd of women standing on the fringes looking at them with jealousy.

"Oh dear," She giggled, "they seem to resent me, don't they?"

"So it would seem." Bill fought the urge to roll his eyes. "But, I have already danced with most of them more than once. I don't know about you, princess, but my feet get tired of dancing the waltz 47 times." He paused as if choosing his words, smiling again, "And they are not the most _invigorating_ people for conversation."

The song ended and the princess looped her arm through Bill's and began to move towards the opposite end of the room where large banquet tables were set up. "Well then," she said, "allow me to steal you from them for just a little longer."

Bill followed after her reluctantly, glancing towards the door he'd entered through. "I really should go back..."

"Back to what?" She questioned. She released his arm as they arrived at the table and accepted a glass of champagne from a servant with a nod of thanks.

Bill shook his head dismissively as he himself took a drink. "Nothing to worry you with, I assure you."

She looked unconvinced and turned to face the crowd of people still dancing. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Is it about that 'birthday present' people have been talking about?"

"Ah..." Bill chuckled uncomfortably, "So, you've heard about that?"

"It's all anyone seems to be interested in," she looked at him sideways again with a smile, "it seems you aren't the star of your own birthday party, your highness."

He took a long sip from his glass and cleared his throat, turning his head to look at her. "So it would seem."

"So, is it true then?" She sipped her champagne, before continuing, "The king and queen gave you a slave as a birthday present?" She had an edge of disdain in her voice that intrigued him.

"I... I don't think they _knew_ what the gift was if I am honest," He looked at her curiously.

She set her empty glass on a tray that was offered up to her. "What are you going to do with him?"

The prince cleared his throat before answering, "I'm not entirely sure. I don't think it's in my power to let him go, but I do-."

"You have to," she interrupted him, "it's not right."

He smiled sympathetically. "I agree with you, princess. But, right now, there is not much I can do for him except keep him safe."

"Safe?" She questioned.

"Yes," he responded, glancing once again towards the doors, "they've already hit him once, likely more than once if I chanced a guess. When I saw him he was chained up like an animal. It's not right, none of it is." He looked back to her and gestured to the crowd. "But, judging from the reaction, I don't think they agree."

She was silent for a long moment before looking away and back to him quickly. "Unfortunately, I think you're right. Some of the things I have heard said about what _they_ would do with him are abhorrent."

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Bill mumbled a response.

She placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Can I... Can I see him?"

He shook his head gently, "I don't think that's a good idea, princess." He offered up his arm to her, which she took. "I think we should head back now." He lead her through the crowd and back to the head of the room.

As they walked, she spoke to him quietly, "please, William, let me know if there is any way I can help."

They arrived at the chairs and he released her arm to bow to her with a smile. "Of course, princess. Thank you for the dance." He turned to the king and queen and bowed to them as well. "Mother, father, thank you for the wonderful party. I am going to retire for the night, please give my gratitude to the guests."

The king nodded and the queen smiled at him before standing to talk to the princess.

He turned away and walked back to the door at the side of the hall he had entered through previously. He retraced his steps back to his room, finding there to be no one standing outside this time. He opened and closed the door quickly. At first glance around the room, it appeared to be empty, but on closer inspection he spotted the boy laying on a carpet on the left side of the room.

He walked up to where he lay and discovered Dipper was asleep. He had changed his clothes and was now wearing a pair of blue pajamas. Near him was a tray with the remnants of the food that had been delivered. Bill smiled softly and knelt down to collect the tray off the floor. He placed it outside the door in the hallway before returning to where Dipper was lying. Dipper was small enough that Bill was able to lift him from the ground without disturbing him and he carried him to his bed. He lay the boy down on the sheets and pulled the blankets up over him before walking to his closet to change himself into his own nightclothes. When he returned to the bedside, an idea struck him. He walked to the door and pulled on the rope that would ring for a servant, who arrived shortly.

"I would like a guard stationed outside of my room," he ordered, dismissing the questioning look he received from the servant, "no one is to enter or leave my room tonight." He'd decided it would be in the boy's best interest to not be allowed to leave in the middle of the night should he choose to try.

He returned to the bedside and climbed into bed himself. As he was reaching to turn off the light, Dipper rolled over and spoke quietly, "Bill?"

"Yes?" He answered quietly.

"Do I... do I get to go home soon?" he asked sleepily.

Bill hesitated on his answer, he didn't want to lie to him. "I hope so. But don't worry about that now, get some rest and we'll discuss it in the morning." With that, he turned off the light.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter two!**

**Warnings: mild language and mild adult themes in this chapter, viewer discretion. Enjoy!**

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Bill was awakened by the sound of something shattering and he sat straight upright. He looked around through bleary eyes and settled on a figure kneeling on the floor across the room. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "s'goin' on?"

Dipper, who was on the floor across the room, looked over at him as he got out of bed. "I'm sorry... I was trying to be quiet but I bumped into it and, well..." He gestured to the pile of broken porcelain on the ground in front of him.

Bill sighed as he looked down at it. "It's alright, I'll have it cleaned up. Did you cut yourself?"

Dipper nodded and held up his arm; on his forearm was a roughly two-inch cut, it wasn't particularly deep but it was bleeding slightly.

"Keep your arm up, I'll get something for it." Bill walked over to the wash basin a collected a damp towel. He returned and pressed it against Dipper's arm.

"Thank you," Dipper said quietly, taking the rag from him and pressed it down himself.

Bill walked back near the door and pulled the rope to ring for a servant once more.

"Can I ask you something?" Bill turned at Dipper's question. Dipper was now sitting with his legs crossed and looking down at his arm.

"Of course," He answered, leaning against the wall.

Dipper furrowed his brows before asking quietly, "why are you doing this?"

Bill crossed his arms and tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Dipper turned his head to look at the prince. "I mean why are you helping me?" He shrugged before continuing, "I was thinking a lot about it while you were gone. Ever since I was taken, I've been so scared that people were just going to keep hurting me, but then I got here and you were just... different."

Bill listened to him in silence before repeating his question once more, "what do you mean 'different'?"

He looked back down at his arm, shifting the rag in his hand. "You're a lot more... kind?" He seemed to be asking himself more than telling the prince. "I heard what those people were saying at that party last night, I don't even think they considered me as a person from what they were saying. But you did."

"What..." the prince uncrossed his arms, "were they saying?"

Dipper shook his head as a response, and there was a knock at the door. Bill opened it and a maid came into the room. He directed her towards the broken porcelain, "I broke my vase, please could you take care of the mess for me."

The maid responded with a nod and walked over to where Dipper was seated and gave him a strange look before proceeding to clean up the broken pieces. Dipper scooted backwards on the floor and looked over at the prince with an expression he couldn't quite decipher. Once the maid had collected them all, she left the room, stealing a glance over her shoulder once more as she did.

"See? I told you they would not have liked me to have a room," Dipper said quietly, "even your servants think it."

Bill scoffed as he walked towards the bed, "I'm sure that's not true. No one could possibly think tha-."

"How do you know?!" Dipper suddenly shouted, rising to his feet. Bill looked taken aback by it. "Don't you know what it _means_ to get a slave as a gift in your kingdom? Honestly, how could you _not_ know?!"

"But..." Bill looked at the other boy with confusion as he lowered himself to the bed. "...surely it can't be like that anymore? They couldn't possibly think that you were given to me for... for..."

Dipper stood there, glowering at the prince. "Sex? Yes. They do think that." He threw the rag onto the floor angrily, red rising in his cheeks and tears pooling in his eyes. "Hell, even I thought that!" He shouted, his voice cracked as he did.

The prince's eyes were wide. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, and threaded his fingers through his hair. He found his own voice cracking as he spoke softly, "I... I'm so sorry. I didn't know that..." He trailed off, folding his hands together in front of him.

Dipper's lip quivered and his hands balled into fists at his sides. When he spoke again it was a whisper, "now do you understand why I didn't want to tell you what they said?"

Bill did not respond for a long moment, his eyes were fixed on the ground in front of him. When Bill looked up and spoke again he could see that Dipper's hands were shaking and he looked as if he was going to pass out. "I promise, I won't let anything like that happen to you." The prince held out a hand to the other boy, who reached out slowly with a shaky hand and took it. Bill pulled him to sit down next to him. "I promise."

Dipper's eyes searched the prince's in silence before whispering softly, "how can I trust you?"

Bill laughed dryly. "How many other options do you have?"

Dipper pulled his hands away and looked down at the ground solemnly. "That doesn't give me much confidence."

"Well what do you want me to say?" Bill asked.

Dipper's answer was as serious as anything the prince had ever heard, "I want you to swear to protect me and to get me back to my family." When he turned his head back to the prince, his brown eyes were still brimmed with the remnants of tears but his lip was no longer quivering.

"I swear," Bill said slowly, "I swear that I will keep you safe." After a moment, he stood suddenly and walked over to his dressing table across the room from them and began rummaging through one of the drawers.

Dipper sat up on his knees and tried to raise himself to see what he was doing. "What is it?"

Bill turned back to him and walked quickly back to the bed. He sat down sideways so that he was facing the brunette and held out his palm. "I want you to have this." The 'this' he was referring to was a simple gold ring resting in his hand. "I think it's too big for you, but I'll put it on a chain and you can wear it around your neck."

Dipper picked up the ring and slid it onto his finger. It was, indeed, too large for him, but he turned his hand back and forth looking at his carefully. "For what?"

"So you can remember it," the prince responded. He held up his own hand where a nearly identical band was situated on his ring finger. "If we both have one, we'll both keep our promise."

"But," Dipper removed his ring and turned it over in his palm, "I haven't made you any promises?" He looked up at him with concerned suspicion. "What could I possibly have that you want?"

Bill looked away, blush rising in his cheeks. "You would think this is rather trivial compare to what you've been through, but my parents are insisting that I be married soon." He twisted the ring on his finger distractedly as he spoke. "But all of the suitors they've tried to match me with have been completely unsuitable."

"What does this have to do with me?" Dipper interrupted.

The prince looked back to him with a small smile before walking back towards the dressing table. "My idea is that if I'm too busy with _you_, then _they_ wont keep pressing me into a forced marriage." He pulled another item from the drawer before returning with it. "What I mean is, I want you to stay here, with me, until then."

Dipper looked back down at the ring in his hand, turning it over once again. "And if I stay..." his voice cracked slightly when he continued, "you'll protect me until I can get home?"

Bill took the ring from his palm and threaded the fine gold chain he'd taken from the drawer through it. He fastened it around the other boys neck and watched it fall even with his collar bone. "You have to promise," he said softly.

Dipper's hand reached up and he stroked the chain with his fingertips. "I..." He looked away and back again before responding just as quietly, "I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: This chapter contains annggssst**

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"Oh, Princess Pacifica, I hadn't expected to be seeing you again so soon." Bill stood up from his seat at the table quickly as the princess was escorted into the room. The day had gone by uneventfully since his conversation with Dipper. He had the physician see to Dipper's cut and brought him a few more pairs of clothes. Now, he was in the dining room with the king, queen, some other guests from the previous night's party, and now the princess, about to be served dinner.

"Did we not tell you, darling?" The queen folded her napkin across her lap as she looked between them. "The princess is going to be staying as our guest."

"No, I was not told," Bill sat back down after the princess had been offered a seat beside him. "I am glad you're here nonetheless."

"Thank you," the princess lay her own napkin in her lap, "I am grateful for your hospitality."

Several servers entered the room and lay plates in front of them and they began to eat, making idle conversation over the table. Pacifica leaned over and spoke to the prince quietly, "how is he?"

Bill took a sip of his wine and replied quietly, "he's alright now, I think. It took quite a bit to calm him down."

"Well, that's understandable at least." She straightened up and returned to her food.

The prince returned to a more normal volume to speak to her, "I didn't know you were planning on staying?"

"To be completely honest, I was not. It was the queen's idea that I should stay." She glanced towards the head of the table and back again, "I hope this doesn't sound terribly forward, but I believe she has half a mind to push us together, if you understand what I mean?"

Bill laughed dryly, "unfortunately, I have to say that I believe you are correct."

"Oh?" She smiled at him and took a sip from her own glass before continuing, "would that be so terrible?"

Bill laughed, a real laugh this time. "What was that you'd said about 'being too forward' just a moment ago?"

"Oh please, William," she rolled eyes in exaggeration, "I'm only teasing."

"Prince William?" A voice from across the table called his attention. It was one of the young women he had danced with at his party the night before. She was leaned forward on her elbows with her gloved fingers laced together beneath her chin. "I couldn't help but wonder about that precious, little toy of yours that you got last night." She fluttered her eyelashes at him and flashed him a crimson smile, a gesture he willfully ignored. "Tell me, have you made any use of him yet?"

Bill took notice of how Pacifica stiffened next to him but hid it behind another sip from her drink. "Well," he responded calmly, "he's perfectly fine I suppose."

She looked dissatisfied with his answer. At this point, everyone at the table was listening to their conversation. She opened her mouth to speak again but was stopped when Pacifica suddenly shrieked. She stood quickly from her chair, nearly knocking it backwards. "A mouse!" She yelled, pointing beneath the table, "I saw a mouse! It ran across my feet!" All eyes were on her and her show of dramatics.

William, who was watching her closely as she yelled, knew very well that there was most definitely _not_ a mouse in the room with them. He did, however, know what she _was_ doing and stood up soon after and took hold of her arm. "Are you alright?" He feigned very convincing concern, "did it bite you?"

"No, no, I don't think so," Pacifica fanned herself with her other hand and was breathing heavily. "I'm terribly sorry everyone. Please William, I feel rather faint. Would you be able to show me outside for some air?"

"Of course, my lady." He began to lead her from the room, nodding a quick apology to the room and to his parents. Once outside of the room and down the hallway a way, he released her arm and she straightened up instantly with a pleased smile. "Now, what was _that_ about?" He folded his hands behind his back as they kept walking.

They reached a long wall of French doors that led out into the garden. She pushed them open and walked out, looking over her shoulder to talk to him. "How can you _stand_ them?" She fumed.

He shrugged and turned around to lean on the stone railing of the balcony. "Years of practice, princess. I've known the Duchess for a long time."

"'Have you made any _use_ of him,' honestly!" She mocked in a nasally voice. "What do they think he is? Just some kind of a toy?!" She huffed and sat down on a nearby bench.

"More or less," Bill responded sadly.

"So..." she took a breath and looked up at him, "what have you decided to do?

Bill hopped up to sit on the railing next to her. "Well, our plan is to get him home safely."

"But?"

"But," he continued, "he's going to stay with me until my parents give up on this whole 'marriage' thing."

"Why does he have to stay until then?" She folded her hands in her lap.

Bill laughed lightly, "my idea is that if I am devoting time to him, then they will give me some breathing room on the whole thing."

She looked at him harshly. "So, you're just using him too?" she said harshly.

"No, no, of course not," he said quickly. He looked down at the ring on his finger with a small smile. "We just... just made a promise, is all. And anyways, when we spoke last night, he made a very good point; because of our kingdoms… _unfortunate_ history, there is a certain expectation for what you are supposed to do with slaves. As awful as it is, there's only so much that I can do."

Her face was an expression of suspicion that made Bill laugh once more. She stood up slowly and began to walk back towards the doorway. "We've been gone for too long, if we stay any longer, they'll be suspicious."

Bill followed after her and offered her an arm. "That might not be so bad if I'm honest. I would rather enjoy the look on the Duchess's face if we both walked in just a _tiny_ bit disheveled."

Pacifica took his arm while she laughed. "Now that I think of it, that's not such a terrible idea." They stopped in front of the door to the dining room and she dropped her smile. "Now, we can't look _too_ pleased with ourselves. I have just been _frightened to death_ by a mouse."

"Naturally," Bill smiled before pushing the door open and walking back into the room.

"Excellent, you're back just in time for the main course," the king said to them as they passed by.

"Pacifica, darling, are you feeling better?" The queen looked to her expectantly.

She allowed Bill to pull her chair out for her, making a brief moment of pointed eye contact with the Duchess across from her. "Oh yes, I just had a bit of a fright, but the fresh air did me good."

Bill took his seat beside her and the servants came in bearing the plates of food to set before them. The chatter of conversation began once more as people began to eat. Pacifica leaned over to him and whispered once more, "since I will be here for a few days, will you let me see the boy?"

He took a long sip from his wine glass before responding, only if you answer this: why do you want to see him so badly?"

As she opened her mouth to answer, she was interrupted once more by the Duchess calling to the prince from across the table. "Oh William, I would so love it if you would take me for a stroll about the garden after dinner."

"Ah, Duchess, my apologies," he answered quickly, "but I've already promised Princess Pacifica that I would show her the gardens tonight." If Pacifica was surprised by this sudden announcement, she hid it well.

The Duchess pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at the two across from her. "Perhaps you could let me have your little doll for the night instead?"

Pacifica barely hid an outraged noise beneath her napkin when Bill reached over and squeezed her hand to keep her silent. "I'm afraid that is not a possibility either. I was stopped by the physician in the hallway and he informed me that he has fallen ill."

She looked as if she were about to speak again, but the servants returned to the room and replaced their plates with dessert. Both Bill and Pacifica fell silent as they ate.

When they were nearly finished, it was Bill's turn to lean over to the princess. "After dinner, I'll take you to him."

She looked at him with a soft smile and a quiet "thank you."

As the last of the plates were cleared, many of the guests began to express their thanks and retire for the night. The Duchess, as she stood to leave, shot a sour look at them across the table.

A little while later the prince stood and offered his arm to Pacifica. "The princess and I are going to stroll around the garden, I shall see you in the morning for breakfast."

They both nodded their approval and watched the two leave. Instead of going the way they had come from the French doors, they turned to the right and began to make their way to Bill's room. "Now, he's awfully wary about people so he likely won't want to talk to you at all," He told her as they reached to door.

"That's alright," she smiled softly, "I understand."

He pushed the door open slowly, and nearly fell backwards in shock when I saw the sight before him. On the far-right side of the room saw Dipper, cowering with his back to a column. Standing in front of him was the Duchess, currently bringing her hand down to slap the boy across the face. There was a _smack_ when she hit him, and he collapsed sideways onto the ground holding his cheek.

Bill strode quickly across the room and seized her wrist with force. She turned with a face of surprise and attempted to pull her wrist away.

"P-prince William!" She stammered, twisting her wrist in his grasp, "I-I-I thought you were in the garden!"

"Clearly," he said fiercely. He pulled her past him, placing himself between the Duchess and Dipper, who was still on the floor. Bill looked over his shoulder at him and whispered, "are you alright?"

Dipper did not respond, but the Duchess did. "My lord, he's only a slave. Why should you ca-?"

"Be silent this instant!" Bill snapped back at her. "This boy is under my protection; how _dare_ you come here and treat him this way!" He took a few steps forwards towards her, placing a finger in her face accusingly. "If you know what's good for you, you will leave at first light tomorrow."

The Duchess turned quickly and practically ran from the room, nearly slamming into Pacifica who was still standing in the doorway.

Bill took a few deep breaths to calm himself before turning and kneeling down to where Dipper sat with his hand over his face. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly, reaching forward to turn his face.

Dipper instantly flinched away from his touch.

He heard the sound of the door being closed and the soft click of Pacifica's shoes as she walked closer. "Hey, you're alright now," Bill scooted closer and reached out again, "she's gone now. She can't hu-."

"You said you would protect me!" Dipper suddenly screamed, wheeling on him with pain in his eyes. His hand was still holding his cheek, but his other was wrapped in a fist around his necklace. "You promised! You promised you would!"

"I know..." Bill gently pulled Dipper's hand from his cheek and held it his own. Other than being a little red, it was alright. "Did she do anything else to you?"

Dipper shook his head, looking at the floor. "She tried but... but I wouldn't let her... and that's why she hit me." He began to shake, and Bill pulled him closer to embrace him.

He shushed soothingly and stroked his hair. "You're alright now."

"You promised," Dipper mumbled again into his shoulder.

"I know. I know I did." He said quietly. Bill looked over his shoulder at Pacifica, "please, could you send for some tea?"

"Of course," Pacifica nodded before walking back out into the hallway.

"Come on, let me clean you up," Bill pushed lightly on Dipper's shoulders and sat him upright. His eyes were red and a little puffy, and Bill used his thumb to wipe away his tears.

"Why?" Dipper's voice shook, "why was she here? And why _weren't_ you?"

"She wasn't supposed to be, Dipper," he said softly, "and I'm here now."

Dipper pushed him hard in the chest and scoot himself backwards. "What if you weren't?!" Dipper clutched at his chest, his knuckles turning white from his grip on the necklace. "What would have happened then?!"

"Dipper I-."

"No! I don't want your excuses!" His eyes stung with tears; his speech was strained from the tightness of his throat. "You're a liar!"

Bill did not respond, not that he could really think of anything he could possibly say.

Pacifica, who had reentered the room with a tray of tea, set the tray down on a table near them and placed herself on the floor beside them. She offered up a handkerchief to the boy with a small smile, "here. You can use this if you'd like."

Dipper looked at her warily before taking the handkerchief and wiping his eyes with it.

Pacifica stood and collected the tray from the table, setting it on the floor between them. "Would you like some sugar?" She asked. Dipper nodded and balled the handkerchief in his fist.

"William?" She turned to the prince, "would you get him a blanket please?"

Bill, still at a loss, nodded minutely before grabbing a blanket off the bed. When he returned, he placed it lightly around Dipper's shoulders, grasping that that was the princess's intention.

"Careful," she offered both boys teacups, "it's still hot."

The three sat in silence sipping their tea. Occasionally Bill would look to Pacifica pleadingly, but if she saw his expression, she was ignoring it. Once or twice Dipper stole a suspicious glance at her from over his cup, after each glance he would look up at Bill momentarily before looking away again. When they had all returned their empty cups to the tray, Pacifica turned to Dipper and spoke again, "are you feeling better?"

Dipper nodded and pulled the blanket up around his shoulders, mumbling a quiet 'thank you.'

"Would you like me to get you anything else?" She smiled at him again and he shook his head. "My name is Pacifica, could you tell me yours?"

Dipper did not answer at first, stealing a glance over at Bill as if for reassurance that it was okay. "It's Dipper," he looked at her quizzically, "are you... are you a princess?"

"What gave it away?" She asked with a laugh.

"Why are you being nice to me?" He snapped a little, but his voice was still low.

"You ask a lot of questions, Dipper," she responded calmly.

"You don't answer a lot of questions," Dipper said coolly.

"Dipper," Bill spoke for the first time in a while drawing both pairs of eyes, "she's on _our_ side."

Dipper looked unconvinced. He narrowed his eyes at them both before turning to Bill, "I'm not even sure if _you're_ on my side."

Bill held up his hand, his gold ring shining on his finger, "you know I am." Dipper's hand found his necklace once again and he wrapped his fingers around it tightly. "Don't worry," Bill placed a comforting hand on the back of Dipper's free hand, "I'm going to stay with you from now on. Nothing like that is ever going to happen to you again."

"But..." Dipper looked intently into Bill's eyes, his voice was no longer shaking. "What about when you can't stay with me?"

"I'll take care of that," Pacifica spoke suddenly, collecting the tray and rising to her feet. "I have a feeling that the king and queen will highly encourage me staying here if they think you and I are courting, William. And while I am here, I can help you to look after him."

"I don't understand." Bill shook his head. "How would that help us?"

She set the tray down on a table and turned back to him. "It helps you both," she explained, "If you're 'courting' me, then your parents will stop flinging suitors at you. And, by extension, you can focus on helping Dipper."

"She's smart," Dipper said bluntly, turning to look at the prince.

Bill looked between the two and nodded slowly. "Yea, I suppose that would work." Bill stood up and offered his hand down to Dipper, pulling him onto his feet.

"So, what are you going to do about breakfast?" She walked back to them, "you told your parents you would be there, but you can't take him into the dining room."

"They... can't stop me," Bill smiled.

"Yes, they can," she said plainly. She turned and began to walk towards the door. "It's late, I'm going to retire. I'll let you figure this out on your own when I see you at breakfast." She exited and pulled the door closed behind her.

"I think she's right." Dipper walked away and sat down on the edge of the bed. "They wouldn't like that at all." He pulled the blanket up around his shoulders and folded his hands in his lap.

Bill sighed and sat down beside him. "Maybe she is," Bill grabbed one of Dipper's hands and squeezed it lightly, "but we'll find out in the morning. Together."

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**Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review!**

**Chapter 4 is coming soon...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Whoop chapter 4... enjoy!**

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Warm morning sunlight began to filter through the now opening curtains. Bill groaned and rolled over, wondering why the sun couldn't just wait a few more hours. He'd been tossing and turning a majority of the night trying to decide what he was going to do with Dipper the next day. But the next day had come too quickly, so he had not gotten much sleep.

"My lord, it's time to get up," he heard the voice of his valet somewhere in the room and the sound of more rustling curtains. "Breakfast will be served in the dining room in approximately 30 minutes."

Bill sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes groggily. "Mm," he mumbled.

"Would you like me to lay out clothes for your... guest?"

The question caused Bill to look down beside him in bed. Still asleep, Dipper was laying on his side with his mouth slightly open. "Yes, that would be good. Thank you." Bill stood up and stretched. "I'll dress myself today, just set the clothes out please."

The servant nodded before doing as he was instructed, casting a few glances at the sleeping boy as he left the room.

"Dipper, it's time to wake up." Bill reached over and shook his shoulder lightly. Dipper had much the same response as the prince, rolling away with a grumble. Bill laughed and reached for him again. "C'mon sleepy head. It's time to eat some breakfast."

Dipper rolled back over to him, blanket pulled up to his chin. "Don't think I'm not still royally pissed off at you for being a liar," he hissed.

Bill sighed dramatically. "I respect your opinion, but I am not a liar." He stepped around to the foot of the bed and took hold of the end of the blanket. "Now, time to get up!" He yanked on the blanket, pulling it onto the floor.

Dipper gave out a shout of protest, and curled himself into a ball. "Your room is freezing!"

"If you get up and put on clothes it won't be as cold," Bill gestured to where two sets of clothes were folded on the coffee table. Bill began to take off his pajamas and dress himself in his day clothes. "Oh," he straightened up while fastening his tie, "I'll replace the bandage on your arm too, if you'd like."

Dipper clambered off the bed and over to where the clothes were set out. "Is... that lady going to be there?" He began to take off his nightshirt.

"Princess Pacifica? Yes, I think so," Bill sat down at the dressing table and combed through his hair with his fingers.

"No... I mean the _other_ one," Dipper situated the jacket on his shoulders, walking over to sit back down on the bed.

"No. She will not be," Bill answered bitterly. He stood and looked over at the other boy. He walked over to the table and collected a tie that had been left. "Here, you forgot this."

"I... I don't know how to tie a tie," Dipper mumbled.

"Not to worry," He pulled Dipper to his feet and quickly tied it around his neck, straightening it when he was done. "There. Now we can go eat." Dipper looked apprehensive, so Bill grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind him. "It's going to be fine, I'll take care of everything."

When they reached the dining room doors, two servants pulled them open in front of them. Bill released Dipper's hand and beckoned him to follow. Seated at the head of the table were the king and queen, who were waiting for the other guests before they began to eat. Bill took his seat beside his mother, and offered the one next to him to the brunette who took it awkwardly. The queen looked up from her plate to greet him, but stopped when her eyes fell on the other boy.

"Ah... Good morning, William..." She set down her silverware and leaned forward to whisper, "why... is he here?"

"I asked Dipper to join me for breakfast. I had heard that the Duchess had left early this morning, so I knew there would be an open seat." He responded with a smile. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Dipper stiffen beside him, his hand balled into fists in his lap.

The king looked at him sternly from down the table, "I don't think it is quite appropriate for him to be here."

"And why not?" Bill took a sip from his glass of water. "He is my guest, or did you not give him to me as a birthday present?"

The king and queen both looked flabbergasted, looking between their son, the boy, and each other. But, if they had a response, they could not give it as people began to filter into the room.

Bill leaned over to Dipper, placing his hand on his fist, "don't let them get to you. I'm going to talk with them after everyone has gone." He squeezed Dipper's hand reassuringly, "You don't have to talk to anyone at all, just enjoy your breakfast."

Dipper nodded, his shoulders lowering as he took a breath, and turned his hand over to return the prince's gesture.

As more people entered, Pacifica entered along with them. She took a seat directly across from Bill and Dipper and smiled at them warmly. The rest of the guests sat and the food was placed in front of them, the sound of conversation bubbled into the room. Dipper remained silent, avoiding eye contact with everyone except for occasionally with the prince and Pacifica.

Bill leaned over to Dipper and whispered, "after breakfast I could show you the garden if you'd like?" Dipper smiled a little and nodded.

"William?" Pacifica called to him across the table, "I was considering going into the village later this afternoon, would you like to join me?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the queen lean forward a little to listen. Bill responded, glancing over at his companion as he did, "I would love to, as long as I can bring Dipper along with us."

"I won't object to it," she gave him a knowing look and continued eating.

As breakfast was finished, people began to give their thanks to the king and queen and exit the dining room. "I'll see you after lunchtime, then." Pacifica called over her shoulder as she left the room with the others.

When everyone had gone, Bill turned to his parents and spoke again. "Mother, father, I fully intend on him joining me on most occasions. You gave him to me as a companion and so I intend to treat him as such. Do you have any objections to this?"

"Well, I... I suppose that is true, William..." the queen turned to her husband for support.

The king stood from his chair and spoke, "if he is going to be accompanying you, then he must behave appropriately."

"Well of course he will behave appropriately," Bill scoffed, "he's not an animal."

"No, he is not," The king continued, looking at the two boys harshly, "he is a _slave. _And I expect him to behave as such. I will not tolerate any disobedience from him when he is in my presence. Do you understand?"

"But father, I-."

"_Do you understand_?" The king interrupted.

Bill looked from his parents to Dipper, who was looking down at the ground uncomfortably. "Yes, I understand," he responded quietly. He turned to leave the room, signaling Dipper to follow behind him. They walked down the hallway in silence for a while and made their way to the french doors that let out onto the balcony. "I'm sorry about that."

"It went better than I expected, actually," Dipper said quietly, "I didn't think they'd let me stay at all."

Bill pushed the doors open and they walked out into the cool morning sunlight. "Still, I am sorry. I thought they would be a little more understanding," he kicked a rock across the pavement angrily, "but they're just like everyone else."

"Bill," Dipper stopped walking behind him and made him turn to see him, "it's okay."

Bill looked at him for a moment before laughing lightly, "I'm usually telling _you_ that, aren't I?"

"I figured it was my turn," Dipper shrugged and smiled sadly, "I get to stay with you, don't I?"

"Yeah, I suppose you do," Bill nodded. "Well, since we're out here. Where would you like to go?"

Dipper shrugged and started to walk down the stairs on one side of the balcony, "I don't know really, I just like that I'm outside." Bill smiled and followed after him, jogging a little to catch up with him. They walked idly among the hedges an trees, following the curving gravel paths that wound around the flower beds and circled the pond.

"I've never seen flowers like these," Dipper said after a while, stooping down to admire a patch of powder-blue flowers.

"Do you not have gardens like this where you're from?" Bill stooped down next to him and plucked a flower from the bunch.

"Not like this, no." The two stood and Dipper pointed to a row of carefully groomed ash trees along the path. "Your trees are smaller."

Bill twirled the flower between his fingers as he spoke, "really?"

"We have redwood trees," Dipper held his arms out to his sides, "they're huge. So big around that you could ride a carriage through them if you cut a hole in the middle." He pointed up to one of the turrets on the palace and looked at the prince with a smile at his bemused expression. "And most of them are even taller than that."

Bill, smiling faintly at the prospect, reached out and tucked the flower he was holding into Dipper's hair just above his ear. "You'll have to show me them someday."

Dipper gave him a strange look, reaching up to touch the flower with his fingertips. "Okay," he smiled and began to walk down the path once more, "I'll show you them when you take me home."

Bill stood there for a moment, shrugged to himself, and followed behind him. When they reached it, the two sat down in the grass near the pond in a shay patch beneath a tree. "Dipper?" Bill said after a while.

"Mhm?" Dipper was sat with his legs crossed and picking at the blades of grass in front of him.

"Where _are_ you from?" Bill lay back and folded his arms behind his head.

"I don't know how far it is from here, but I guess it probably took a few days." Dipper answered. He was putting the grass blades he'd pulled out into a pile.

"You guess?"

"Oh, I was unconscious for part of it." He said it as if it was the most normal thing in the whole world. Bill looked at him with concern, but Dipper was looking out at the pond. A large, white bird had just landed on the smooth surface and he seemed to be studying it. "Most people call it 'The Place Where Gravity Falls,'" he said quietly, "but we just call it Gravity Falls. The legends say there's some kind of terrible, evil magic trapped in the town, but I never really felt like there was anything like that." He laughed sadly and reached up to pull the blue flower from his hair and twirl it between his fingers. "It was a wonderful."

Bill closed his eyes, the warm sun filtering through the leaves and moving across his face, and asked, "Do you miss it?"

"Yes, everyday," Dipper looked back at the pond, the white bird spread it's wings and lifted itself from the water.

"Do you have any family?" Bill asked again.

"I have a sister, she's my twin sister actually," Dipper tucked the flower back into his hair, "both my parents died when we were little, so we live with our uncle."

"I can't wait to meet them," Bill said quietly, "I've never been farther away than the village. Could... could you tell me more about your home?" As the sun rose higher into the sky, they sat beneath the tree and talked. At least, Dipper talked while Bill listened. Occasionally, Bill would ask another question or chime in with his own story, but for the most part he just lay with his eyes closed and listened. Dipper, at least, seemed happy to talk. It was the most he'd said since arriving, and Bill was glad for it. After abut an hour, Bill sat up at the sound of shoes crunching the gravel along the path.

"Ah, they said I'd find you out here." Pacifica stepped off the path and began to walk across the grass towards them. She had changed clothes since they'd seen her at breakfast; instead of a dress she was wearing riding clothes and her hair was tied up into a ponytail, in her hands was a wicker basket. "I was out for a rider after breakfast and I decided to have a picnic instead of going in for lunch, would you like to join me?"

Bill looked over to Dipper, who nodded and turned where he was sitting to face her as she sat beside them. "Depends on if your cooking is any good," Bill laughed.

"Oh, ha-ha," Pacifica mocked, setting the basket between them and beginning to pull out items from it. "Have you two been out here all morning?""

"Yes, Bill was showing me the garden," Dipper took a paper-wrapped sandwich from her, "then he fell asleep."

"I was not asleep, I was... listening," Bill had actually been listening the whole time, but feigned outrage nonetheless. They all began to eat their sandwiches, talking and laughing among themselves as they ate. When they'd finished Pacifica stood and collected the basket and looked between them.

"Shall we go into the village then?" She asked.

"That's alright with me," Bill said, "Dipper?"

"Actually, I'm kind of tired," Dipper stood up along side them, "It's been a long couple of days for me. I'm sorry, but I'm going to say 'no.'"

Bill shrugged and turned back to the princess, "I'm sorry, that means I have to decline as well."

"Not to worry," Pacifica smiled sympathetically, "we can go some other time. You get your rest." She nodded them both before turning and walking back to the path, when she reached it she paused and looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, Dipper, I like your flower."

Dipper, a startled look crossing his face, reached up and pulled the flower from his hair as a blush rose on his cheeks. Bill laughed and extended an arm to the other boy, "should we head back, then?"

Dipper nodded, not taking the offered arm at the risk of more embarrassment, and began to walk towards the path. Bill laughed again and walked along side him.

"If you wanted to go with her, why did you stay?" Dipper asked when they'd arrived at the balcony and began to walk down the hallway.

Bill shrugged, "I promised I'd stay with you, and I'm not a liar."

"That's debatable," Dipper said sarcastically.

They arrived at Bill's room and the prince pulled the door open for him. "Whatever you say."

Dipper shed his suit-jacket and hung it over the back of a chair before walking over the the wardrobe and collecting a pair of pajamas. Bill sat down in an armchair and opened a book that was on the end table. Once he'd changed clothes, Dipper walked over and flounced onto the bed. "Bill?" He said quietly. Bill looked up from the book and over to the other boy. Dipper was sitting on the bed, legs crossed, looking down at the ring her was holding in his hand. "You'll... you'll stay with me, right?"

"I'll be right here when you wake up," Bill smiled softly at him.

Dipper seemed to breath a sigh of relief. He slipped the chain around his neck with a smile and lay down under the covers. Bill looked back down at his book, listening until Dipper's breathing softened and he knew the boy had fallen asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Woohoo I still have ideas!**

**Enjoy Chapter 5**

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Dipper was stirred from his sleep by the muffled sound of people shouting. He sat in his bed and through bleary eyes, he squinted into the bright flickering light. He rubbed his eyes quickly and flung himself from the bed and ran to the window. He recoiled in horror at the sight before him; From where his home was situated on the top of a hill, he could see the entire town before him set ablaze. He pushed off the windowsill and ran out the front door, pausing in the door way when he heard his sister's voice behind him.

"Dipper!" She ran out the door and clung onto his arm. "What's happening?! Where is Stan?!"

He grabbed her hand and began to pull her to run down the hill, calling over his shoulder, "I don't know! But we have to go! Now!"

They ran through the streets, people around them shouting and the sound of children crying ringing in their ears, winding through alleyways and side streets in an effort to get to the well at the center of town.

"Look out!" Mabel suddenly wrenched her arm free and shoved him forward onto the ground. Between them, a large piece of burning timber crashed to the ground and sent splinters of flaming wood flying.

"Mabel! Are you alright? Dipper pulled himself from the ground and shouted over the mass in front of him. The piece was large enough it covered the whole of the alleyway. "I can't see you!"

He heard her voice, it was muffled but nearby, "I'm alright, I can't get through this way. I'll meet you at the well. Go!"

Dipper did as he was told and took off running again until he reached the square. On the far side he could see the old church. It's rosary windows had been shattered, the large oak doors were torn from their hinges, and the flames inside the building stretched all the way to the steeple.

In front of the church in the middle of the square, standing atop the edge of the stone well, was a man who was yelling to the large group in front of him, "Find them! I want them alive!" The group, swords and spears glinting in their hands, dispersed into the burning streets. As they moved away and Dipper moved closer, in the light of the fire Dipper could see Stan being held by three men in front of the well. His forehead was bleeding and his clothes were ripped. Dipper saw Stan raise his head and say something to the man at the well, after which he was subsequently struck on the side of his head.

This action brought forth a feeling of hatred Dipper had never felt before. He ran towards the men and towards his uncle yelling expletives and threats at them as he did.

"Dipper!" Stan looked up at him and shouted, "No! Dipper don't!"

But he wasn't listening. When he reached them he struck his fist at one of the men and missed. One of the men holding Stan released him and grabbed Dipper by the arm, twisting it behind his back. Dipper cried out in pain and struggled against his captor. "Get your hands off me!"

The man who was standing on the edge of the well jumped down and walked towards him. He looked at Dipper struggling and grinned smugly before planting his fist firmly in Dipper's stomach. Dipper doubled over in pain and his other arm was grabbed and pulled behind his back as he fell to his knees.

"Well, well, well," the man who'd hit him, who seemed to be the leader of the group, said, "if I were a betting man, I'd say _this_ is one of the brats we were looking for." He drew a dagger from his belt and leaned down to Dipper's eye level. He placed the tip of the blade under his chin and tipped it upwards, forcing Dipper to look at him. "Now, where's that sister of yours? I get a pretty penny if I collect the set."

Dipper looked at the man with hatred and spat into his face. "Go to _hell," _he hissed through gritted teeth.

The man wiped the spit from his face and pulled the knife away from Dipper's face. "You've got nerve, kid," he spat before punching Dipper square in the mouth. Dipper coughed, blood spilling from his lip and down his chin onto the ground as his body sagged. "Find the other one!" he could hear the man yell in front of him, "and get rid of the old man!"

"No!" Dipper screamed, a new bout of struggles against the man holding him, "leave them alone! Please!"

The man looked at him and opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by one of the armed men running into the square and up to the group shouting, "the guard! The guard is on their way!"

The man growled before barking more orders to his men, "forget the girl. We'll get enough for just this one," he gestured to Dipper who was still shouting at him. "Gather the men and meet me at the rendezvous point in the valley."

"You wont get away with this!" Dipper thrashed again, spitting the blood from his mouth.

The man glared at him. "And shut that one up!"

Dipper continued to struggle against his captor's grip, opening his mouth to speak again before being slammed forward against the pavement. His head connected with the ground and his ears began to ring. He was pulled up onto his feet and forced to walk, but it was more like he was being dragged across the pavement. The voices around him were beginning to fade out and black was creeping into the edges of his vision as he was dragged away.

* * *

"Dipper! Dipper! Wake up!"

The voice ripped him from his nightmare as he was awoken. He felt the hands on his shoulders holding him down and saw the shape above him, but his half-dazed eyes couldn't see who it was. So he fought against them; thrashing and writhing and still in the grips of terror.

"Dipper. Calm down it's me," The voice was no longer shouting at him, instead it was whispering calm, soothing words. "It's okay, Dipper. You're safe, you're safe here with me."

The fog in front of his eyes seemed to be moving away, and he was able to make out Bill's face over him. He stopped thrashing against Bill's hands and lay there breathing heavily. When Bill took his hands off the boys shoulders, Dipper sat upright clutching his chest.

"I..." Dipper mumbled, "I'm sorry I just..."

"You had a nightmare, didn't you?" Bill shifted and placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder.

Dipper shook his head, "No it wasn't a nightmare." Dipper sniffed and wiped his watering eyes. "It was real. It was so real."

"I know it _felt_ real, but I promise it was just a ni-."

"No!" Dipper shouted, cutting off Bill's sentence, "It _wasn't_ a nightmare! I was _back_. I was back in Gravity Falls! The town was on fire and they were dragging me away. I couldn't-. There was nothing I could do I... what if they killed them?!" Dipper's hands were gripping his hair so hard Bill though he might tear it out. He eyes were wide and his breath was coming out in erratic pants. He looked at Bill with panicked eyes, "you can't let them take me again." He grabbed onto Bill's shirt sleeve, tears now pouring openly down his face. "You can't! You..." He trailed off and buried his face in Bill's shoulder.

"Shh..." Bill pulled him closer and rubbed small circles on his back. "You're okay now. They can't hurt you anymore, I'm here. You're safe." He reached up and stroked Dipper's hair, letting him sob into his shoulder. "I promised I would protect you, and I promised I would take you home."

They sat in silence for a long time, Bill allowing Dipper to calm himself down in his own time. Dipper moved and lay his head on Bill's lap, letting Bill stroke his hair. "Every time I close my eyes I see it..." he whispered, "I can still smell the smoke. I can still feel the heat from the fire. I..." He balled his fist around the ring on his chest, "I can still _feel_ their hands on me when they dragged me away."

Bill looked at him sadly. He knew that Dipper was hurting, but he didn't know how to help him. Likely, he _couldn't_ help him. It's not like he could undo what had happened. All he could think to do was stay there with him and let him cry. "I'll stay here for as long as you want me to," he said quietly, "and when you're ready, we can clean you up and get something to eat."

Dipper nodded and wiped his eyes with the back of his fist. "Thank you," he whispered. Silence fell between them once more, long enough that the light coming in through the parted curtains stretched shadows across the large bedroom. Bill kept one hand on Dipper's shaking shoulders and the other running fingers through his auburn hair. Finally, Dipper sat up wiping his running nose and rubbing his eyes. He looked at Bill and sniffed. "I think I'm okay now," he said quietly.

"Come on," Bill took one of Dipper's hands and pulled him towards the conjoined bathroom, "let's get you cleaned up. I'll draw a bath for you and call for some tea. After you're clean and feeling better, we can go eat dinner."

Dipper allowed himself to be led into the bathroom and towards the tub on the far side of the room. Bill released his hand and turned the water on. He walked over to a cupboard nearby and reached inside, asking over his shoulder, "would you like bubbles?"

Dipper shrugged and started to unbutton his pajamas.

"Bubbles it is," Bill smiled and added bubble soap to the steaming water. "I'll have some tea sent for you, if you need me I'll be just outside."

"No!" Dipper shouted, recoiling instantly, "I-I mean... could you stay with me?"

"While you're taking a bath?" Bill raised his eyebrow at the other boy as he put the soap back into the cabinet.

"Yes, I mean no, I mean..." red was rising in his cheeks, "that's not what I meant. I just... don't want to be alone right now."

Bill looked between the cabinet, Dipper, and the door a couple of times. _"I must be crazy,"_ he thought. "Alright," he sighed dramatically, "I'll go get some tea and sit with my back to the tub, will that work."

Dipper half-smiled and nodded as a response. Bill walked out the bathroom door and pulled it shut behind him, trusting that Dipper would be undressed and in the water before he got back. _"For the sake of decency, I **pray **__that he is,"_ he thought as he pulled the call rope.

After receiving a tray of tea and cookies from a servant at the door, Bill returned to the bathroom and found Dipper already in the bathtub. He walked over, closed his eyes, and placed one of the teacups on the small table beside the tub. Afterwards he turned around and sat on the ground, reopening his eyes. "I already put sugar in it," he said over his shoulder, "I hope that's okay."

He heard the sloshing of water and a mumbled 'thank you' behind him. After a moment, Dipper spoke up, "do you ever have nightmares?"

"I think everyone has nightmares, Dipper," he answered after taking a sip from his tea. "But, from what you said I think you were re-living your memory."

"I don't know... maybe I was," Dipper said quietly. He placed his crossed arms on the edge of the tub and looked at the back of Bill's head.

"What..." Bill glanced back at him before quickly turning his head back around, "what exactly _did_ happen to you?" When Dipper didn't answer at first Bill set his cup down and spoke quickly, "you don't have to tell me! I know you might not want to talk about it."

Dipper sighed and rested his chin on his arms. "I'll tell you eventually, just not right now."

"That's okay, you don't ever have to if you don't want to." Bill picked up his cup once again, "do you want to eat in the dining room tonight?"

"I don't think your parents want me to."

Bill turned his head to look at the other boy, "But do _you_ want to?" Due to where Dipper had placed his arms, Bill could see the bruising around his wrists from where the shackles had been two days earlier.

Dipper blinked at him strangely for a moment. Without speaking, he held out one of his hands and gestured for Bill to take it. He pulled the ring off of Bill's finger and held it up to him. "You know what I want, Bill," he whispered. He placed the ring in the flat of Bill's palm. "I want to stay with you. I want to stay until you can take me home. We promised." He pushed Bill's fingers closed around it and held the prince's fist with his own.

Bill smiled at him fondly for a moment. _"He is a strange one,"_ he thought to himself. He pulled his hand away and slipped his ring back on, placing his back to the tub once more. "I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, Dipper."

Dipper sank back into the tub until the water was up to his chin. "That's probably a good thing," he said. At an inquiring sound from the prince he continued, "I don't really _like_ anyone that you know."

Bill laughed, "Is that really fair?"

"I think so," Dipper peaked over the rim and looked once more at the back of Bill's head, "Pacifica is okay, but other than her everyone else treats me like I'm sub-human. So I don't like them."

"Well, I guess you have a point," Bill shrugged. "Why is Pacifica different?"

"She's a lot like you," Dipper folded his arms on the edge of the tub again and lay his head sideways on his forearm. "I think she likes you."

"What?" Bill turned himself around completely this time and laughed incredulously.

"You heard me, I think she likes you." Dipper put one hand in the water and flicked bubbles into Bill's face.

Bill wiped the bubbles from his face. "Yeah, I'm sure she does," he said sarcastically before reached forward and pushing Dipper's face backwards.

Dipper laughed and feigned splashing Bill dramatically. "She does! I've seen the way she looks at you. Maybe _she_ can solve your betrothal problem."

"Oh please," Bill rolled his eyes, "I've known her for two days, so perish the thought. Now, finish up and dry off before I lose my patience."

Dipper crossed his arms, "and what are you going to do if I don't."

Bill snatched a towel from the cupboard and turned back to Dipper. He lowered his voice comically in a terrible impression of his fathers voice, "you are a slave and I expect you to behave as such!"

Dipper held back a snort of laughter as Bill set the towel on the table next to his teacup. He laughed again when he noticed that Bill's eyes were closed as he did it.

"I'll wait outside for you, there are some clothes on the dressing table stool for you." Bill exited the bathroom, leaving Dipper to dry himself off.

"Hey, Bill!" Dipper called after him, making Bill stick his head back through the door. "Thank you. I know I'm a hassle, and I'm not what you expected, and you don't have to do any of this. But, still, thank you."

Bill smiled back at him. "You would do the same for me," he shrugged and left the room once more, smiling contentedly to himself. He went to the wardrobe and set out a clean tailcoat for Dipper before changing into his own tailcoat for dinner. _"I wonder if he was right about Pacifica,"_ he thought, _"she's nice enough but..."_ Bill shook his head to free himself from the thought.

He had more important matters to take care of and a friend to help, so that would have to wait for another day. For now, he would just have to make sure he and Dipper survived dinner.

* * *

**If you enjoyed, please leave a review :)**

**Chapter 6 will be coming soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Enjoy Chapter 6**

* * *

"Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"I don't think that this is a goo-."

"Hush, Just do as I say and it will be fine."

"... If you say so."

Bill placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder, "Dipper, look at me, it's going to be fine."

Dipper looked as if he didn't believe him, but walked down the hallway behind the prince nonetheless. He looked down at his clothes again; they were very similar to the clothes he'd arrived in. The gold, jeweled bracelets were fitted on his arms and legs, and he was wearing a long, white tunic that was fastened by gold rings on either shoulder and around his waist with a sash. His feet were bare, but the carpeting was soft and warm under his feet. He put his hand up to his chest, feeling the ring beneath his clothes, and sighed. "What am I supposed to do, again?" He asked, walking a little faster to draw even with Bill.

Bill looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "You're going to be 'playing the part' of my personal servant. So yo-."

"I _am_ your personal servant," Dipper corrected blandly.

Bill stopped walking, causing Dipper to have to turn around to look up at him. Bill looked at him silently with one eyebrow slightly raised. "Dipper, I..." He looked up over Dipper's head before looking back down at him. "Call it what you want to. Point being: You are going to be standing behind me quietly and acting as if you really are a submissive slave. If my parents _think_ that's how I'm treating you, then they'll ignore you and we won't have any more trouble; you'll get to stay with me all of the time. Alright?"

Dipper nodded before pulling at the collar of his tunic. "So that's why I'm wearing this?"

"Yes, that's correct." Bill started to walk again before stopping and turning back around. "Dipper, I wan't you to know I may have to say or do certain things that might... might reflect badly on you. But I need this to be convincing."

Dipper shuffled a bare foot on the carpet as he answered, "it can't be worse than anything I've heard already, and I know you wouldn't mean any of it."

Bill smiled sadly at him. "I'm glad you have so much faith in me."

Dipper shrugged and grabbed onto Bill's hand as he started to walk again. Bill allowed himself to be pulled down the hallway, looking down at their clasped hands curiously. When they arrived at the dining room, Dipper squeezed his hand softly before letting go and letting Bill push the door open in front of them. The room was already mostly full, people mingling and some already seated. When they entered, people moved towards their seats and the servants around the room moved to pull out chairs and leave to collect the plates of food.

Bill took his seat beside his parents, casting a glance over his shoulder at Dipper who was standing near the wall behind him, before greeting the people around him as he sat down.

"Good evening, William," Pacifica said across the table, "did you have a nice rest this afternoon?" She glanced behind him at Dipper as she asked her question.

Grasping her meaning, Bill answered without missing a beat, "no, I'm afraid I was rather restless."

A young woman sitting beside him giggled, "Oh William, you're just being coy. We all know the _real_ reason you were 'restless.'" She glanced over her shoulder at Dipper, who averted his eyes uncomfortably.

"Ah..." Bill cleared his throat and took a sip from his glass of water. "Maybe so, princess."

"He is such a cute little thing, William, you're very lucky," she said quietly. She turned fully to look Dipper up and down before turning back to hear Bill's response.

Bill took a discreet breath to level himself before responding, "yes, he is rather. And, you are correct, I am very lucky in him."

"William?" Pacifica, thankfully, called his attention back to her. "I ended up going into the village this afternoon, and I was wondering about some of the shops there."

Bill was thankful for her change in conversation and talked with her for a while, ignoring the other woman's blatant look of irritation. As the food was served, the woman continued to try to coax him into talking about Dipper in an unsavory way. An effort Bill and Pacifica continued to work to ignore.

After one such comment about 'wanting a closer look at him,' Bill barely stifled a sigh behind his wine glass. "Perhaps when we go through to the sitting room after dinner I can introduce you to him, princess."

The princess looked pleased with this response and dropped the matter for the rest of the meal.

Bill looked over his shoulder for a moment to check on Dipper. He had his hands behind his back, his head down, and he was shifting nervously on his feet. Dipper looked up at the prince for a moment, looking at him apprehensively before looking back to the ground.

When they had finished eating, the women in the room all stood and exited, chattering about this and that. The princess's eyes lingered on Dipper and Bill for a moment as she exited. The men who were left stood and began to converse among themselves.

Bill, walking over to speak with Dipper, distinctly noticed his father's eyes scrutinizing them. "Dipper," Bill whispered, "I need you to act like I'm reprimanding you. Lower your head."

Dipper's eyes widened in recognition before nodded softly and looking down at the ground and folding his hands in front of him. "Like this?" He whispered back.

Bill didn't respond. Instead he glanced over his shoulder to find the king no longer looking at them. "Yes, that was perfect." He placed his hand on the small of Dipper's back and began to guide him towards the door. He stopped when the king placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Where are you going, William?" He asked skeptically.

"Ah..." Bill looked between Dipper, who had stiffened beside him, and his father. "Some of the ladies wanted to meet him, I promised I'd let him entertain them."

The king removed his hand from Bill's shoulder and eyed Dipper with scrutiny. "Very well, I expect he will behave himself?"

"Of course, of course," Bill said as he pushed Dipper from the room.

When they were in the hallway and the dining room door was shut behind them, Bill took a sigh of relief. Dipper was still stiff next to him and was picking idly at the scab on his arm. "Don't scratch it or it'll start bleeding again," Bill said as he grabbed Dipper's scratching hand. He started to lead Dipper down the hallway towards the sitting room. "I'm afraid you'll have to talk to her, or at least you'll have to let her talk to you. She probably want to touch you. But I'll be watching the whole time, so if you get too uncomfortable tell me and I'll take care of it."

Dipper nodded and squeezed Bill's hand lightly, letting himself be led down the hallway. "I actually think Princess Pacifica would tear her to pieces before you could," he mumbled.

Bill laughed a little at that response. "I think you may be right," he said as they arrived at the sitting room door. Bill released Dipper's hand and pushed the door open, walking in with Dipper following behind him.

Several men and women were scattered around the room; some were lounging in chairs or couches, while others were playing cards or having a drink. Bill immediately spotted Pacifica across the room, she was seemingly cornered in an armchair by the other young woman who turned to them the moment they entered.

As she saw them, she immediately motioned them over to where they were sitting. Bill took a, rather reluctant, seat in the empty chair beside her while Dipper stood at his side. Bill flashed a look at Pacifica that said "don't say a word" before beginning to speak to the other woman.

"So this is the pretty little toy you have?" She cooed at Dipper, looking him up and down once more. Dipper shifted uncomfortably on his feet but said nothing in response. "Come here, let me have a look at you." The princess held out her hand, beckoning Dipper closer. He took a few small steps until he was in front of her and just barely in reach of her fingertips. "What's your name then?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Dipper looked between the woman and Bill quickly before responding, "D-Dipper, my lady." He bowed curtly, not really making eye contact with her.

"My, my, such lovely manners." She took hold of the side of Dipper's white tunic and lifted it slightly, casting her eyes on the gold bracelet fastened to his ankle. "You certainly have him trained well. He doesn't have a mark on him, so I can only imagine the kind of discipline you used on such a pretty, sweet, little boy." The innuendo was dripping from her lips, leaving no room for speculation on what she meant.

Bill, noting the furious look on Pacifica's face and the petrified look on Dipper's, grabbed Dipper's wrist and pulled him to himself. Dipper held back a squeak as he was pulled onto Bill's lap. He looked at the prince with wide eyes, but said nothing in favor of letting himself be embraced by the waist. He was just thankful to be out of reach of the woman.

"Yes, well," Bill responded, "he didn't really need all that much discipline. He's rather well behaved. Aren't you?""

Dipper balled his hands into fists his lap and nodded awkwardly, eyes fixed on the carpet. Bill, attempting to sooth Dipper's discomfort, squeezed his waist lightly.

"Come now, no need to be so shy. Look at me darling," Bill reached up and grabbed Dipper's chin, turning his face to him. He leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "you're doing wonderful. I promise this will be over soon. Now I need you to act like I'm saying something indecent."

Dipper responded immediately. Whether he was acting or was really imagining the scenario himself was anyone's guess, but his eyes widened and a bright blush covered his cheeks. He brought his hands to his face and covered his mouth.

The woman watched them with intrigue, giggling at Dipper's reaction. Clearly it had the desired effect. Pacifica, on the other hand, looked less than amused.

_"He's going to hate me for this,"_ Bill thought, but proceeded to place a peck on Dipper's cheek nonetheless. This time, he was certain the boy's reaction was genuine. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. Dipper squirmed on Bill's lap, his face becoming miraculously more red. Bill thought he looked like he was going to explode at any moment.

"Don't tease me," Dipper squeaked petulantly. He had a brilliant pout plastered on his face.

"Oh? Or what little one?" Bill cooed. _"He is **going** to kill me."_

The woman laughed again and leaned forward to run her fingers through Dipper's hair. At that moment, Dipper grabbed onto Bill's arm that was around his waist and squeezed it lightly, In a very obvious sign of "I'm ready to go now."

Bill took the hint and pushed Dipper from his lap, essentially stealing him from the woman's grasp. "Well, it's getting late. I fear it's time to put this one to bed." Bill gestured to Dipper before placing a hand on his lower back.

"Oh, I'm sure it is." The woman winked at the prince, an action he willfully ignored.

The prince bowed to them both, already pushing Dipper towards the door. "Goodnight, ladies," he said as they walked away. When the two were out of the room and far enough down the hallway, Bill removed his hand from Dipper's back and grabbed for his shoulders. "Are you okay? I know that was uncomfortable for you," he asked quickly."

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Dipper said softly as he pushed Bill's hands off of him. "Did you _have_ to put me on your lap?" He sounded mildly annoyed.

"Did you want it to be convincing?" Bill asked back. They continued to walk side by side down the hallway towards the prince's room.

Dipper sighed. "Yes, okay then, I suppose it was necessary." When they reached the bedroom door, Dipper stepped in front of the prince and pulled it open. At the questioning look he received, Dipper nodded over his shoulder at a maid who was walking down the hallway.

Bill saw this gesture and walked through the door. As he did so, out of the corner of his eye Bill could see Dipper reach up to touch his cheek with his fingertips. He walked into the room and sat down at his dressing table. He didn't speak until he heard the click of the door closing behind him. "What are you thinking about?"

"Hm?" Dipper sounded as if he hadn't been listening. "Nothin'."

"What kind of nothing?" Bill pulled his tie loose from his neck and set it on the table.

Dipper untied the sash around his waist and tossed it onto the bed next to him. He reached up to unfasten the gold ring holding the shoulder of his tunic as he spoke, "I really wasn't thinking about anything." He fiddled with the fastening a little more before lowering his arms. "Could you help me with this?"

Bill crossed the room to him, standing behind him and working on the fastening. "Are you sure? You keep touching your cheek." Bill pulled the gold fastening free and tossed it on the bed beside the sash.

"Oh..." Dipper blushed. He caught the top of the tunic as it started to fall of his shoulder. "I... I guess I was thinking about you kissing me."

Bill laughed a little. He walked back towards the dressing table as he responded, "I'm sorry about that. I guess I went a little overboard." He stopped when Dipper mumbled something he couldn't quite hear. "Pardon?"

Dipper, who still had his back to the prince, took a deep breath before talking a little louder, "I really didn't mind it all that much."

Bill raised his eyebrows in surprise. He took a half-step forward as he spoke, "really?"

Dipper turned around quickly and waved his hands in front of him, one hand shooting back down as his tunic fell."I-I-I mean it's not like I _liked _it I just-," he paused, covered his eyes, took a breath, and continued, "I only mean that it wasn't terrible and I didn't hate it."

"Oh..." Bill, unsure of what he could possibly say as a response to that statement, sat down at his chair and looked between Dipper and the wall in response.

"Look," Dipper sat down on the edge of the bed and played with the ring around his neck with his fingers. His voice was level, but there was something in his tone that made Bill feel incredibly sad. "I don't like being touched by people. I never have. It makes me feel... weak. So I _especially_ don't like it now." He looked up at Bill, forcing him to meet his eyes. "But I don't mind it so much when you do it."

"Why?" The question was simple. So simple that it sounded like a child was asking it. But Dipper did not respond to it at first; He took quite a while, staring back at the other man dumbly as if he hadn't really given it any thought before that moment.

"Because..." Dipper started an answer - he started two answers in fact - but abandoned it halfway through in favor of a confused shrug. "I don't really know exactly. Not yet anyway, I suppose I'll figure it out eventually."

Bill looked down at the gold ring on his finger for a moment before looking back up at thee boy on the bed. "I hope you do. And I hope I can help you."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Please comment if you enjoy!**

* * *

He didn't know what time it was, all he could imagine was that it was sometime in the very early morning. Bill had been awake most of the night thinking about what Dipper had said. He sat up and looked to his side where Dipper lay. His breath was even and quiet and he seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully. He had the blanket pulled all the way up to the chin and wrapped tightly around his shoulders.

_"He sleeps curled up like a cat,"_ Bill thought. He looked over to the window, from beneath the curtain he could see the moonlight seeping underneath it. He was pretty certain it was a full moon tonight. As quietly as he could manage, he stood up from the bed and walked to the window. He drew the curtain aside and looked out at the garden. From his room, he had a perfect view of the lake reflecting the moonlight of its still surface.

"Bill?" Dipper's voice made him jump.

"Yes?" He responded softly, letting the curtain fall closed behind him.

It was dark, but he could see Dipper sitting up in the bed. The blanket was hanging loosely off one shoulder and he was rubbing his eyes with the back of his fist as he yawned. "What're you doin'?"

"I was just thinking. You don't need to worry about me," Bill responded, "just go back to sleep."

"You think to much," Dipper said softly. He swung his legs off the bed and walked over to the window. The tiles were cold on his feet and he shivered a little.

Bill drew the curtain aside again, wider this time so Dipper could stand beside him. While Dipper looked out the window, Bill cast a glance down at him. He looked as if he may have been sleepwalking. His eyes were half-closed, blinking slowly as if his eyelids were too heavy for him. His head was tilted to the side, his shoulders were sagging, and his hands held loosely at his sides.

"Maybe I do." Bill grabbed one of Dipper's hands in his own and started leading him back towards the bed. "Or, maybe I just worry about you."

Dipper drug his feet along the tile. "Why would'ya worry 'bout me?" His words were running together a little and he yawned again.

"I just..." Bill sat down in the middle of the bed and released Dipper's hand. "I know you don't like people to touch you, but..."

Dipper sat down next to Bill on the bed and rubbed his eyes again. "But what?" He said bluntly. At this point, Bill was pretty certain Dipper was barely lucid.

Bill grabbed Dipper's shoulder and pulled him to his chest. He lay back and pulled the covers up over them. He rested his chin on top of Dipper's head.

Dipper did nothing at first, but after a moment he wound his arms around Bill's waist and nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "You're warm," Dipper mumbled, "you're room is so cold. And your hands are soft. And you smell good."

"I want you to know you're safe with me," Bill whispered. He gave Dipper's shoulders a light squeeze. "You don't have to be afraid of being touched, I'm not going to hurt you."

"That's nice," Dipper yawned again. He re-positioned his arms around Bill's waist and soon after was snoring lightly.

_"I don't think he was even awake enough to listen to me," _Bill thought. "No one is going to hurt you..." He mumbled into Dipper's hair. It was soft and he still smelled like soap from the bath. Bill closed his eyes and breathed deeply, laying there with Dipper in his arms until sleep claimed him as well.

* * *

When the curtains were pulled open once more they no longer held moonlight behind them. Instead it was the warm glow of the morning sun.

"My lord, breakfast is in 30 minutes," he heard the voice of his valet but didn't respond to it beyond the dismissive wave of his hand. He heard the sound of a cabinet door being open and shut and the rustling of clothes, followed by the door to his bedroom being opened and closed.

Bill opened his bleary eyes and blinked a few times before tightening his grip around the figure asleep in his arms.

"Dipper?" He mumbled. When Dipper didn't respond, Bill opened his eyes fully and looked down at the boy. He had his back to the prince, back pressed to Bill's chest. One of Dipper's hands was holding the top of one of Bill's. Bill pulled his hand free, setting himself up on his elbow, and shook Dipper's shoulder lightly. "Dipper? It's time to wake up for breakfast."

"Do we have to go?" Dipper mumbled back. He rolled over and pressed himself into Bill's chest. "Can't we just stay asleep? It's so nice."

Bill lay back down and lowered himself to even with Dipper's eye level. "You're just saying that because you know I'll stay here if you stay."

Dipper opened his eyes and blinked at Bill tiredly. "Maybe I am," he smiled softly before closing his eyes once more, "what're you gonna do if I am?" He pulled the blanket up further onto his shoulders.

"Dipper, you need to eat," Bill raised himself up on his elbow again and shook Dipper's shoulder.

Dipper, blanket covering most of his face, opened his eyes fully this time. "But your room is still cold," He mumbled. He pulled a hand out from under the blanket and brushed a few locks of Bill's blonde hair out of his eyes. "Besides, you look like a mess anyways."

Bill scoffed and pushed Dipper's hand away from his face. "Oh please, if you'd get up we could look presentable."

Dipper pulled his hand back into the covers and rolled over, curling into a ball.

"Fine. If you want to lay here all day be my guest." Bill stood up from the bed and walked towards the dressing table. "But _I_ am going to eat breakfast."

Dipper sat up and glared at the back of his head. "Without me?"

"Oh, that's right~," Bill's tone was incredibly and purposefully patronizing, "you need me to hold your hand." He picked up a comb and ran it through his hair a few times as he waited for a response.

Dipper scoffed and pushed the blanket off his shoulders. "As if I need you to do that!"

Bill turned around in his chair and did his best to hide his smile. "Well, since you want to stay in bed all day like a little baby, it seems like you do."

"Oh please!" Dipper practically threw himself from the bed and towards the wardrobe.

"Oh good, you're up." Bill turned back around towards the mirror with a pleased smile.

Dipper stopped pulling clothes from the wardrobe and looked between the prince and the bed in confusion. "I-. You-." An outraged expression covered his face. "You jerk!"

Bill only shrugged and walked over to collect his own suit from the wardrobe before heading towards the bathroom. _"He really is like a child,"_ Bill thought, _"it's almost... endearing?"_ He changed out of his nightshirt and into his coat and slacks before walking back into the room.

Dipper was sitting in the chair in front of the dressing table. He hand changed into a white button down shirt that was a bit too large for him and brown slacks. Neither of his cuffs were buttoned and he was rubbing one of his wrists absently with his hand as he looked into the mirror.

"You alright there?" Bill asked as he walked up beside him and grabbed a blue tie from the table.

"Oh! Yes," Dipper jumped a little. Bill assumed he had probably interrupted a daydream. "My wrists are just still kind of achy." He held up his hands in front of him. His unbuttoned sleeves fell down around his elbows revealing the purple rings that wrapped around both of his wrists. They were tinged pink and slightly yellow around the edges of the bruising.

"They look like they would be." Bill grabbed Dipper's hand and pulled his sleeves up to button them.

"They've stopped hurting all of the time, at least," Dipper added with a shrug.

Bill smiled at him and grabbed Dipper's necklace off the table. "That's good, I'm glad." He placed the chain around Dipper's neck and put his own ring on his finger.

"Do you know what we're having for breakfast?" Dipper stood up and walked over to where his shoes were beside an armchair.

"Well," Bill slid his own dress shoes onto his feet as he spoke, "almost all of the guests who stayed after the party will be gone by now. So it wont be anything incredibly extravagant. Likely we'll be eating in the small dining room, so I believe you sitting beside me won't be an issue this time."

"I hope there's potatoes," Dipper smiled over his shoulder at the prince.

Bill straightened up and turned once or twice in front of his mirror. "If there aren't, I could probably get you some." He began walking towards the door, Dipper walking beside him as he did.

"I don't want to be any trouble," Dipper corrected himself quickly. "I mean..." he continued, "if you don't mind?"

"Of course I don't mind. You're being silly," Bill chided. "What would you like to do after breakfast?"

Dipper thought about it for a moment as they walked down the hall. "Well, I never ended up going to see the village. Could we do that?"

"I don't see why not." They arrived at the small dining room door and a servant standing nearby pulled the door open for them. To Bill's surprise, the room was empty of everyone except for the queen and Pacifica who were chatting quietly. Bill greeted them with a "good morning" and a nod to each of them before taking his seat. Dipper hesitated for a moment until Bill offered up the empty seat beside him.

"It's good to see you looking well, William," Pacifica offered them both a warm smile. The two women were already eating, but as Dipper and Bill sat down plates were quickly placed in front of them.

"You as well Princess, I'm glad you're still staying here with us." He flashed her a knowing look that went unnoticed by the queen. As his glass of water was filled by a servant he said over is shoulder, "would you ask the chef for some potatoes, please?"

"Of course, my lord." The servant bowed and left the room, returning shortly with a plate and placing it in front of the prince.

Bill shifted the plate towards Dipper, but when Dipper didn't make any move towards it Bill looked up at him. Dipper's hands were in fists in his lap and he was glancing over at the queen nervously.

"Dipper," Bill spoke to him softly but firmly, attempting to maintain the illusion of a master chiding his servant, "eat your breakfast."

"O-oh!" Dipper hesitated a moment, a blush rising in his cheeks. "Yes, my lord."

_"Since when does **he**__ call me that?"_ Bill thought. He gave Dipper a strange look, but said nothing.

"William?" The queen called his attention from across the breakfast table.

Bill looked over and flashed her a warm smile. "Yes, mother?"

"Pacifica gave me a letter this morning with the most wonderful news." She looked between the princess and her son eagerly as she continued, "Pacifica's mother and father have written to ask us to attend a party in three days. I've already written back to say we would attend, so make sure you have your valet prepare clothes for you and your... guest." She gestured to Dipper.

"You don't have any objections to Dipper coming with me?" Bill raised an eyebrow in surprise. He was actively attempting to keep himself from sounding too hopeful.

"Well..." She cleared her throat a few times before responding to him. "As long as he behaves and dresses as he should, I don't have any qualms with it." Bill opened his mouth to respond but the queen started to speak again. "Of course, you may want him while we're there."

Bill nearly snorted at this statement. "Mother!" He spluttered through a few different sentences as he looked between the other three at the table with him. He finally settled on something along the lines of, "that's not a topic for the breakfast table."

He looked to Pacifica pleadingly but she was stifling an incredulous giggle beneath her napkin. He then turned his eyes on Dipper, who looked positively mortified.

"Well," Bill huffed as he stood up from his chair, "I think that is quite enough of that. Come on Dipper, we're leaving."

Dipper stood up quickly, nearly knocking his chair backwards in the process. "O-of course. Thank you, my lady." He bowed curtly to the queen and to Pacifica, the latter of who gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Dipper!" Bill snapped, motioning for Dipper to follow behind him. Bill exited the room, Dipper in tow, and stomped down the hallway towards his room. When they reached it, the prince's valet was already in the room folding clothes to place into separate suitcases. _"Why did she even bother to tell me to instruct him if she already had?!"_ Bill fumed silently.

The valet halted his folding and looked up at him"Which suit would you like to take for the party, sir?"

"You pick, I trust your judgement," Bill waved his hand dismissively. He sat down on the bed and flopped backwards, placing both hands over his face.

"My lord?" The valet called to the prince, who lifted one of his hands to look at him. "Your servant will need to be fitted for a suit to wear. I believe if he's fitted today, we will have one finished before you leave."

"Yes, yes, I'll call for the tailor." Bill placed his hand back over his face. He felt the bed sink as Dipper sat down beside him; however Dipper didn't speak so Bill ignored it. He heard the rustling of fabric and the metallic sound of a latch followed by the door closing.

It was after this that Dipper spoke to him. "Are... are you okay?"

Bill sighed heavily and dropped his arms straight off to his sides. "Yes. I apologize for snapping at you like that."

Dipper shrugged. "I don't mi-."

"Don't say you don't mind." Bill narrowed his eyes at the other man. "I _know_ that you mind. You're just saying that so I wont worry about you."

"Why do have a problem with me not wanting to make you worry?" Dipper shifted how he was sitting to face Bill and leaned forward, crossing his arms across Bill's chest and placing his chin on top of them.

"Because I'm going to worry whether you admit it to me or not," Bill said plainly.

It was Dipper's turn to narrow his eyes and he lifted his chin off his arms. "Why do you care so much?"

Bill wrapped his hands around Dipper's clothed forearms and pulled him forward slightly. "Why do you ask me that so much? Is it really that strange that I care about you?"

"No! I just..." Dipper's tone shifted from outraged to perplexed, "what do you mean 'so much'?"

Bill's tone softened a little, "You... you asked me the same thing last night."

Dipper lowered his chin back down to his arms a little bit . "Last night?"

"Do you not remember?" Bill raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not all that surprised, it seemed like you were sleep talking." Bill wrapped his arms loosely around Dipper's shoulders and looked at him strangely for a moment for continuing. "Nonetheless, why is it so strange to you that I would care?"

Dipper didn't respond for a moment, only blinked slowly and lay still. "I guess... I guess I just never imagined someone like you would care about someone like me." The way he'd said it made him sound as if he was posing a question to himself more than a statement for Bill to hear. He started to laugh a little, the kind of laugh you do when you think what you're saying is the most ridiculous thing that has ever passed anyone's lips. The one where your cheeks light up and your voice comes out a little bit strained. "I mean, you're a _prince_ for heaven's sake! And I'm just the son of a high priest of some middle-of-nowhere tiny superstitious village a hundred miles away!"

Bill sat up, pushing Dipper upright with him and released Dipper from his arms. "Why should that matter?" Bill was trying very hard to not let his anger get the better of him. He wasn't angry at Dipper directly, he was actually angry at this whole situation that made both of them feel the way that they do. "I _do_ care about you. Whether you want to accept it or not, _I do," _He said firmly. When Dipper began to pull back a little, Bill took a breath before he lowered his voice. "Look, I'm not going to say that things wouldn't be different if we hadn't met the way that we did. But we _did_ and this is where we are now. All I want is for you to let me care about you, okay?"

"I..." Dipper glanced down at Bill's hand before looking back up again. "I guess I'd be okay with that."

"Good." Bill smiled softly and stood up from the bed. He started to walk towards the door but stopped to look over his shoulder when Dipper didn't follow behind him. "Are you coming?"

Dipper stood up and quickly caught up with the prince. "Where are we going?"

"Well," Bill extended an arm for Dipper to take hold of as he spoke, "you can't wear a tunic to a party."


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you so much for reading!**

**Leave a comment if you enjoy!**

* * *

Bill stood in the middle of the tidy little shop. He watching the tailor who was currently wrapping a measuring tape around Dipper's waist. "Do you think you can have it done by Friday morning?"

The man stepped back from Dipper and squinted down at the piece of paper Bill had handed him. "Ah well, that is a tall order considering what you've requested, my lord."

"I see," Bill snatched the paper from his hand and turned to leave, "come along Dipper, we'll have to find someone else."

The man bustled quickly after them, not an easy feat for such a round man. He grabbed for the paper Bill was holding. "No! No! Please, my lord, I will have it finished and delivered by Thursday evening."

"Excellent!" Bill smiled brightly and handed the paper back to him. "I knew I could count on you. I'll see you on Thursday. Come along Dipper." The prince left the shop, Dipper in tow, and began to stroll down the street.

Dipper grabbed onto the arm that Bill extended to him and glanced over his shoulder back at the shop. "What was that about? Why'd you need to do that?"

"He's the best tailor in the whole village and I know he can make what I want him to," Bill said simply. He pulled a sour face, "unfortunately, however, he is incredibly lazy. I have to do that every time or I'll _never_ have a suit on time."

"Oh, I understand." Bill thought Dipper sounded as if he very much did not understand, but didn't comment on it. "Why did you have to write it down?"

They turned a corner and wound through a side street towards the main road. "Because it's going to be a surprise."

Dipper groaned quietly. "I'm not really a big fan of surprises."

"Don't worry," Bill said, "you'll like this one." Dipper glanced over both shoulders a view times as he listened to Bill's answer. This action did not go unnoticed. "Are you looking for something?"

"Oh, no. I was just..." He released Bill's arm and turned around completely. "Do you not have any guards with you when you go out?"

"Not usually," Bill said casually. He kept walking, figuring that if Dipper wanted to return to his arm he would. "There's enough of them around that they would be close by if there was an issue. And I'm not completely helpless anyways."

Dipper caught up to his and smiled slyly. "So, how do you know I'm not just going to knock you out up and run away?"

"Oh please," Bill rolled his eyes, "you couldn't hurt a fly."

Dipper swiftly kicked Bill in the back of the knee, causing the prince to stumble forward but not quite fall all the way. When Bill looked up at him with a look of disdain, Dipper grinned smugly. "You were saying?"

"And you call me a jerk," Bill huffed as he straightened up and glared at him. "You better watch yourself or I'll have to punish you."

"Oh? Like you'd actually pu-. Ah!" Dipper was cut off as Bill caught him by both wrists and pushed him against a wall, hands held up to either side of his head. "Oh, ha-ha very funny Bill. Let me go." Dipper was clearly attempting to sound nonchalant about the situation, but the blush rising in his cheeks and the persistent fidgeting was not helping his case.

Bill tilted his head to the side and leaned forward. "Where'd all that big talk go?"

"I-I-I just-. I mean you-. Why are you-?" Dipper stumbled through a few sentences, ultimately bailing on all of them.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Bill leaned in close to Dipper's ear and whispered, "you're going to have to speak up, darling." He blew air into Dipper's ear, causing the other boy to emit a squeak. He then released Dipper's wrists suddenly and Dipper slipped down the wall slightly.

"You're... a jerk..." Dipper wheezed.

Bill grinned down at him and placed both hands behind his back. "Oh please, I'm only teasing." He turned and started to walk towards the main road, eyeing Dipper over his shoulder. "You enjoyed it anyways."

Dipper scoffed dramatically and pushed himself off the wall. His cheeks were still tinted pink, but he now held a more annoyed expression than an apprehensive one. "Yeah sure, whatever you say _your highness_."

As Dipper drew even with him Bill extended an arm again. Dipper looped his own through it but was not very gentle about it. Bill looked down at him, "And what's with that name?"

"What's with _yours_?" Dipper shot back.

"Again," Bill said, "just teasing." They reached the main road and turned left towards the center of town. Bill looked around at the different shops and stalls lining the street. Occasionally he would wave at someone greeting them as they walk, pointedly not remarking on some of the looks they were receiving. "Dipper if you see anywhere you'd like to go, feel free to tell me."

"Oh!" Dipper tapped excitedly on Bill's arm and pointed to a candy shop on one side of the street. "I want to go in there!"

The stopped walking and Bill reached into his inside coat pocket. He pulled out a few gold coins and handed them to Dipper. "Buy whatever you'd like, I'll wait for you right over here. Alright?"

"Excellent!" Dipper smiled brightly before releasing Bill's arm and skipping off towards the candy store.

Bill took a few steps backwards out of the way of the foot traffic on the crowded street. After a few minutes, he spotted Dipper weaving through the crowd with a few items clutched in his hands.

"Here! I got one for you too!" He placed a chocolate in Bill's hand and grinned up at him. "I didn't know what you would want, so I just got a plain chocolate bar. Is that okay?"

"Yes, I'm sure it will be delicious. You know you didn't have to get me anything, right?" Bill peeled back the wrapper and took a bite out of it.

Dipper shrugged and took a bite out of his own chocolate. "I just like it, so I thought you'd like some too."

"You really get excited about sweets don't you? Bill commented as they started to walk again. At Dipper's nod Bill looked down at the rest of what he was carrying. "What else did you get?"

Dipper looked down at the rest of his purchase as he answered. "I'm not really sure, I just grabbed whatever looked good. We don't have a lot of these things back home."

Bill grabbed one of the brightly colored boxes out of Dipper's arms and turned it over in his hand. "Really?"

"Yes. We used to have a candy-maker in Gravity Falls, but he only knew how to make chocolates. He made the best fudge in the whole world." Dipper smiled wistfully and took another bite out of his chocolate. "But he moved away when I was young. He left Mabel and I some before he left though."

Bill placed the box back in Dipper's arms and they started to walk again. "So is chocolate your favorite then?"

"Well," he shrugged, "when you've only ever had chocolate, I suppose it's a default favorite."

"Ah, I see." One of the boxes near the top fell out of Dipper's hands and onto the ground. Bill picked it up for him and looked around. Down one of the side streets, Bill could see a small park and guided Dipper towards it. "Let's go sit down before you lose any more of your sweets."

When they exited the alley, they were welcomed by the sight of a grassy park littered with shady birch trees that filtered down the light of the early afternoon sunshine. Bill and Dipper took a seat beneath one of the trees and Dipper dropped his purchase onto the grass in front of them.

Dipper began opening some of them and looking through them. "Do you know which ones are good?"

"No, not really." Bill scooted backwards until his back was against the trunk of the tree, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. "You could always just try each of them and decide which ones you like best. That way we can get more the next time you come back."

"That's a good idea." Dipper nodded and reached for one in a painted red box. "If they're _really_ good I'll let you have some too."

Bill opened one eye to look at him. "You don't have to do that. They are for you, after all."

Dipper looked puzzled. "But... if I like it, then I want to share it with you so you can like it to."

Bill closed his eyes again and smiled softly. "Very well, choose away." As Dipper scrutinized the candies in front of him, Bill opened his eyes slightly and watched him. Dipper selected a bright yellow-painted box that had a shiny ribbon tied to it. Bill chuckled when Dipper put one of the sweets in his mouth a pulled a face before spitting it out.

"That was sour. Really, really sour." Dipper spit a few more times before turning on Bill who was still laughing at him. That was Bill's mistake apparently; leaving is mouth open. Dipper pushed one into the prince's mouth before he could stop him. "Here! Try one!"

"Ack!" Bill spat his out onto the grass as well and started to cough. "You weren't kidding, good grief."

It was Dipper's turn to laugh this time. "Okay, so that one is a no." He set the box to the side and selected another one. This time he chose a little silk bag filled with what looked like balls of chocolate. "This one doesn't _look_ sour."

"Let's keep our fingers crossed." Bill leaned forward and grabbed one of them out of the bag after Dipper had popped one into his mouth. "Any good?"

"It has raspberry in it!" Dipper exclaimed, "this is much better than the other one. Try it!"

They went on in that way - tasting and deliberating - until they had tried each of the items that Dipper had chosen. They had two piles: "delicious sweet treat" and "a crime against nature." After Dipper's third chocolate bar, Bill decided it may be best to stop him before he got a stomach ache.

"If you're hungry, we can go find something to eat," Bill suggested, "It is lunch time after all."

"That sounds like a good idea." Dipper began to collect the discarded wrappers from the grass and took them to the nearest dust bin. He turned back around as Bill drew even with them and they began to walk back towards the main road. "What should we get?"

Bill shrugged in response and they turned the corner onto the crowded street. "That's up to you. If something catches your eye we'll get it. Besides, there's no rush because we don't need to be back until supper."

The pair walked down the street making idle chatter. Neither really had to pay attention to where they were walking as the crowd parted in front of them wherever they walked. As they passed a stall on one of the street corners, Dipper suddenly stopped and grabbed onto Bill's arm.

"That smells delicious!" He pointed towards the little stall situated near the wall of a tavern. "We should get some."

Bill allowed himself to be lead towards the stall. "Do you even know what they're selling?"

"No. But we'll find out, won't we?" They reached the front counter where a small sign was posted. "Roast Mutton Sandwich" was carved into the sign in curving letters.

The vendor looked up at them and bowed upon recognizing the prince. "Prince William! What an honor!"

"The honor's all mine," Bill waved a hand in front of him as a recognition and began to pull a few coins from his jacket. "We would like to try one of your sandwiches, sir."

"Of course!" The man bustled around behind the stall for a few minutes before producing the sandwich he'd prepared sealed in a paper wrapping. "Please enjoy, your highness."

"Thank you, much appreciated." Bill placed the money that was owed onto the counter top and collected the sandwich. He handed it to Dipper as they walked away from the stall and back down the street. "Would you like to go back to the park to sit down and eat that? Or would you like to keep walking?"

Dipper looked down at the sandwich in his hands before responding. "Let's go back to the park since we're not too far away."

Bill nodded and guided them back down the street. They arrived back at the park and Dipper sat down on the grass in a shady spot towards the edge. "I saw a stand selling cider across the street," Bill pointed back towards the entrance, "would you like a glass?"

"If it's not too much trouble, that sounds delicious." Dipper took a bite out of his sandwich as Bill began to walk in the direction he'd indicated.

"Just wait there," Bill called over his shoulder, "I'll be back in just a moment."

Dipper looked across the park to the other edge. Between him and the far edge of the trees was a small pond with a family of ducks swimming across it. On the far side of the pond, two little boys had their slacks rolled up to their knees and were attempting to snag one of the smaller fish from the water near the bank. One of them slipped and fell face first into the water and the other fell backwards laughing at the first. Dipper smiled at the thought of them coming home to their mother later that day, slacks covered in mud and their hair still dripping.

"Well, well, what have we here?"

Dipper looked up towards the voice but was forced to squint as the people beside him were standing right in the path of the sunlight.

"Looks like a palace boy to me." One of the voices said. From the look of it, there appeared to be three of them in total.

"If he's a place boy he'll probably have something on him." Another voice chimed in.

"So, pretty boy," The one closest to him leaned over him, "got any money on you?"

Dipper stood up, taking a few steps backwards as he did, and shook his head quickly.

The man closest to him took a menacing step closer, the other two following suit and circling around the smaller man. "Say I don't believe you?"

"I-I don't have anything!" Dipper squeaked, waving his hands in front of him defensively.

The man shrugged and started to raise one of his hands. "I suppose we'll just have to check, won't we?"

Dipper cried out as the man swung his fist forward and pinched his eyes shut. But the impact he was expecting didn't come. When he opened his eyes, a fourth figure was standing in front of him. He had the man by the forearm and was currently dragging him backwards and flinging him to the ground. The figure took a step in front of him and looked over his shoulder at him. With the light not impeding him, Dipper could now make out Bill's features and he took a breath of relief. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"Y-yes, I'm fine." Dipper stepped closer to Bill's back and peaked over his shoulder. "You were here right on time."

The man was picking himself off the ground with an angry glare, but when he recognized Bill for who he was he froze. "P-prince William!" The other two began to stumble backwards away from them - directly into the chests of four armed guards.

Three of the soldiers seized the men while the fourth turned to the prince with a bow. "Is there a problem here, your highness?"

"Yes, there most certainly is." Bill glared at the men with resentment. "I just apprehended these men accosting my servant. I wish to see them imprisoned. _I__mmediately_."

The leader of the men pleaded with the prince as he pulled against the soldier holding him. "No, please! Your highness we weren't actually go-."

"Be silent this instant." Bill hissed at him.

The fourth guard acknowledged this action and bowed in response. "As you wish, your highness." The guards began dragging the struggling and swearing men from the park and down the street.

Dipper stayed tucked behind Bill's back and noticed all the eyes that had been drawn to the commotion they had caused. Bill didn't move from where he was standing until they were entirely out of sight. He turned around to Dipper and grabbed his shoulders lightly.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He turned Dipper's face from side to side and looked him up and down.

"No. No. Bill, I'm fine. I promise. Just calm down!" Dipper pushed Bill's hands off of him and filled his lungs with air for the first time in a few minutes. Bill continued to fire questions at him until Dipper grabbed either side of his face and pulled it down to is eye level. "Bill, listen! I'm fine. They didn't hurt me."

Bill placed his hands on top of Dipper's and removed them from his face. He took a few breaths before giving Dipper a shaky smile. "I'm sorry, I dropped your cider."

Dipper snorted at that. "Really? That's what you're worried about right now?"

"I think we should head back now," Bill turned and started to pull Dipper behind him, "you must be pretty shaken up. We'll go back to the palace and I'll ju-."

"No, no." Dipper pulled his hand free and sat back down beneath the tree, motioning for Bill to sit beside him. "I told you already, I'm fine. I wasn't really worried." At the inquisitive look he received from Bill as he sat back down, Dipper continued. "I only mean that I knew you were going to be here. You promised, remember?"

"I know that I promised but.." Bill cast a glance towards the park entrance. He was no longer fuming in anger, but he was still concerned. "That's an awful lot of faith that you have in me, Dipper."

Dipper rubbed the back of his neck with one hand as he responded, "well, you're not a liar."

Bill laughed at this answer. "Wasn't it less than two days ago that you didn't even want to look at me because I was 'a big fat liar?'"

"Yes, but that was two days ago," Dipper said simply. He took hold of Bill's hand and smiled. "Anyways, I'm having too much fun to go back yet. I want to see the whole village!"

"Well," Bill chuckled, "we don't want to wear ourselves out, but I think that can be arranged eventually. How about for now, we just go to a few more places and then head back?"

"That sounds fantastic!" Dipper hopped onto his feet and pulled Bill along behind him. Dipper lead them back onto the main road and went off to explore the village, Bill following behind with an amused smile the whole way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's Chapter 9, please enjoy!**

* * *

"I still can't believe you bought another box of those awful things," Bill said with a groan.

Dipper flopped down onto the edge of the bed and held up the bright yellow box in his hand. "I can't believe you _let_ me buy another box."

"Oh _no sir_," Bill scoffed as he sat down beside him. "I did no such thing! _You_ were the one who tossed the box onto the counter when I wasn't looking."

Dipper kicked off his shoes and pulled his feet onto the bed criss-crossed. He opened one end of the box and picked out one of the little yellow candies, scrutinizing it carefully. "I thought that maybe if we tried it again it wouldn't be so bad."

"Well, I'll leave that to you." Bill stood up from the bed and headed towards the bathroom. "I need to clean up before dinner." Bill paused in the doorway and looked back at Dipper who was about to put the candy in his mouth. "Are you going to be alright in here by yourself?"

Dipper lowered the candy from his mouth and glanced around the room a few times. "I should be. I can come in if I need you, right?"

Bill nodded. "Of course. But just knock if you can, okay?"

Dipper nodded at this stipulation and proceeded to pop the yellow candy into his mouth. Immediately his lips puckered, but it seemed to Bill that Dipper was refusing to spit it out of sheer determination.

Bill chuckled and closed the bathroom door behind him. He thought he vaguely heard the sound of Dipper gagging followed by muffled coughing on the other side of the door. He turned on the bath water and collected the bottle of scented bath soap from the cabinet before undressing and sinking into the warm water. He let his back slip down the wall of the tub until the water covered him up to his chin and he closed his eyes.

_"I wonder how many of those he's going to try to eat,"_ Bill thought. A contented smile flitted across his lips. _"He's such a child. I bet he'll end up eating the whole box out of spite. As funny as that would be, I don't fancy dealing with him whine about a stomach ache tonight._" He momentarily contemplated the idea of yelling through the door for Dipper to not eat any more of them until tomorrow, but decided to let Dipper figure that out for himself.

Instead, a new - and significantly more unpleasant - thought sprung into his head: _"What if I hadn't gotten back to Dipper before those men mugged him?"_

Bill sat up and splashed water into his face a few times. He turned to his side and rested his chin on top of his arms that he crossed over the side of the tub. "How much longer can I keep this up?" He mumbled aloud to himself, "It seems like the longer he stays here the more he's going to get hurt." Bill groaned deeply and ran a hand through his hair. "I swear he's like a magnet that attracts exclusively dangerous and hostile people!"

He heard the sound of Dipper coughing and spluttering again and he was pulled from his thoughts. Bill sat more upright and yelled through the closed door, "Dipper! Stop eating those!"

Dipper's voice sounded incredibly strained as he yelled back, "you know, they really aren't that bad after you get used to it!"

"You're full of it!" Bill shouted back at him. He heard Dipper grumble a muffled response and laughed when Dipper began to cough again.

_"He's going to give me a stress ulcer,"_ Bill thought. He stood up, climbed out of the bathtub, pulled the drain plug, and wrapped himself in a towel. _"But still... I need my parents to give up on this soon so I can take him home. I don't want to make him stay any longer than he needs to, especially because he wants to go home so badly."_

He opened the door and spotted Dipper still sitting on the edge of the bed.

Dipper looked up at him as he heard the door open, but averted his eyes quickly upon spotting Bill in only his towel. "Uh... Bill?" Dipper turned around completely where he was sitting. "Clothes! Please!"

Bill snorted at this response and walked over towards the wardrobe. "Oh? Is my towel making you uncomfortable?"

"Guh- No!" Dipper cried indignantly.

"Really? Are you sure?" Bill teased. He grabbed a dress shirt and slacks from the wardrobe and put them on.

Dipper, still facing the other direction, crossed his arms across his chest. "What's gotten into you that you suddenly like to mess with me so much?"

Bill, as quietly as he could manage, walked to the side of the bed behind where Dipper was sitting. He lunged forward and tackled Dipper onto the bed. "You're fun to mess with," Bill said simply.

"Get... off... of me!" Dipper grunted.

"Oh yeah?" Bill laughed, "Or what?"

Dipper flopped his arms onto the bed in defeat. "You... are... the worst."

Bill gasped in mock offense. "That, good sir, is scathing."

There was a light knock on the door before it was opened. Bill looked up and back towards it and saw his mother standing in the doorway with a look of surprise.

"Oh! Goodness, my apologies. I see you're busy." She started to retreat back through the door.

Bill hopped off of Dipper's back, grasping what she must have _thought_ she was seeing. Bill had to admit that in all honesty, it was a fair assumption. "Oh, no, no. You're just fine," Bill said quickly. A nervous chuckle escaped his lips. "I promise you it was not as compromising at it looked. What can I help with, mother?"

The queen glanced behind her down the hallway before stepping halfway back into the room. "I..." She looked over at Dipper who was still sitting on the bed. "I just wanted to be certain that you got everything squared away with your servant's suit."

"Oh," Bill waved a hand loftily in front of him, "yes, of course. Master Geoffrey has always been a stubborn old man, but he assured me that he'll have it delivered on Thursday evening."

"Oh wonderful!" The queen clasped her hands together in front of her. "Also, Princess Pacifica left earlier this afternoon while you were in town. She asked for me to give you her goodbyes and to tell you that she looks forward to seeing you at the party this Friday."

"I'm sorry to have missed her." Bill gave her a sad smile. "I'm afraid I will not be joining you for dinner tonight, I was planning on arranging to have my meal in the garden. I fear the weather will be turning soon and I wanted to enjoy it while it lasted."

"Very well," she said, "I'll let your father know. Goodnight, William."

"Goodnight, mother." Bill closed the door softly behind her and listened to the click of her heels down the corridor.

"So," Dipper's voice called his attention back to the bed, "we're eating in the garden then?"

Bill pulled the gold call-rope as he answered. "Yes. As Pacifica is not there to help me distract my parents, I feel that it would be for the best."

Dipper grabbed his discarded sweets box from the bedspread with a shrug. "Maybe you're right." He stood up and walked towards the bathroom. "I have no clue why, but I get this feeling that your father doesn't like me very much," Dipper remarked sarcastically.

"Oh really? What could _possibly_ give you that impression?" Bill sat down in an armchair and collected a book from the end table in front of him.

He heard a muffled laugh from the bathroom followed by a cough as an attempt to cover it up. "Just a hunch I suppose." Dipper came back out of the bathroom, his hair slightly wet and hanging into his eyes, and sat down beside Bill in an adjacent armchair. "I was actually thinking about something earlier an-."

"You can _think_?" Bill interrupted. At Dipper's annoyed glare, he chuckled and set his book down on the table. "Alright, alright. What's on your mind?"

Dipper huffed in annoyance before continuing. "I was thinking about the night of your birthday party, actually."

"Oh?" Bill looked down at the ground near his feet. "What about it?"

"I know we've sort of talked about this before, but I was wondering..." He paused for a moment, "_why_ did you decide to help me? You didn't have to; you could've have just done what everyone expected you to, but you didn't. Why?"

Bill looked back up at him strangely. "Dipper we've already talked about this." When Dipper didn't respond to him, he continued, "What's got you thinking about this all of a sudden?"

Dipper blinked at hims silently for a moment before answering bluntly: "answer the question."

_"What's gotten into him?" _Bill furrowed his eyebrows at the other man. _"I know it's only been a few days, but he's already changed so much from when I met him."_

"Bill." Dipper's voice pulled him from his thoughts. He was leaned forward in his seat towards the prince. "If you tell me, then I'll tell you what happened to me."

"Dipper," Bill sighed, "I don't think this is all that important ri-."

"Bill! Will you stop being so damn stubborn all of the time!" Dipper shouted. He rose to his feet, moving his hands animatedly as he spoke. "You say you care about me, and if you do then I want to know why! You didn't know anything about me and yet you _still_ chose to try to save me! And even now you _still do!_ I need to know how you feel about me, damn it!"

Bill was taken aback by this outburst, more out of surprise than anything else. "Dipper I..."

"Please," Dipper said more softly. His voice was shaky, but it didn't seem like he was about to cry. "I need to know."

Bill lowered his shoulders with a defeated sigh. "As you wish." He extended a hand out to the other man and guided him back into his chair. Bill looked over towards the door and back again before he spoke. "The night of my party, the first time that I saw you I thought that you were the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. Even now sometimes when I look at you I get this strange feeling." Bill disregarded the look that Dipper gave him and continued, "I didn't think it was right to have something so beautiful in a cage. I wanted you to be free, but..." he lowered his voice and looked down at the ground, "I wanted you to be _mine_."

"I... don't understand." Dipper shook his head.

"I don't really understand it either." Bill looked back up and waved both hands in front of him. "I don't feel like that now, if you're worried about that. Now, you're my friend and I want to keep you from harm. I want you to be close to me and I want you to be safe. But you want to know _why_ \- the truth is I don't really know."

The pair were silent for a long while before Dipper leaned forward in his chair, elbows on his knees and hands covering his face. He mumbled something into his hands that was too muffled for Bill to make it out.

"Pardon?" Bill leaned in closer but immediately pulled back again when Dipper looked up at him. He had an emotion of his face Bill could not quite place.

"Why..." Dipper's voice cracked a little as he spoke, "why did I have to end up with someone like you?"

Bill unintentionally snapped back at him defensively, "and what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant." Dipper tilted his head back with an exasperated sigh. "You're just... you're so kind, and gentle, and... _good._" He looked back at Bill with a sad smile. "You're honest and sincere and I don't know what to do with that. I don't know how to handle someone like you... and it scares me." Dipper's hand wrapped around the ring hanging down over his heart. "If it's any consolation, however, I care about you too."

Bill took a breath to calm himself as he listened to Dipper speak. "I'm sorry for snapping at you," Bill said slowly. He moved closer in his chair and extended a hand out to Dipper, which was taken almost immediately."But I've answered your question, so now I want you to answer mine."

"Ask whatever you want to." Dipper was looking down at their clasped hands.

He looked back up as Bill spoke, "What happened to you? And is what happened why you have such a difficult time trusting me?"

"Well..." Dipper pulled his hand free and absentmindedly rubbed it across his stomach. "I guess I did say I would tell you, didn't I?"

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**Whoop! Sorry for the Cliff-Hanger, but chapter 10 will be out soon!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I just want to say a quick thank you to everyone who has kept up with this jumbled mess of a story so far. I never intended this to have so many chapters, but since writing the first few chapters I've really come to enjoy this story and where it's going. Thank you so much for your continued support, reviews, and messages. If you have questions, prompts, or just want to chat feel free to PM me!**

**Without further ado, enjoy chapter 10!**

**Chapter warnings: Brief mentions of violence and assault, mild adult themes. Read at your discretion.**

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"He punched you?!"

"Yes," Dipper rubbed one of his eyes with his fist. "Twice actually."

"If I'd been there I would've ki-."

"Yes, but you weren't," Dipper interrupted. "Now, if you'd be quiet for more than 30 seconds I can finish."

"Yes, yes." Bill sat back in his armchair with a sigh. "Go on, please."

Dipper stood up and began to pace slowly has he talked. He was speaking very softly and slowly, seemingly struggling to put his thoughts into speech. "The man holding me shoved me to the ground after that. I guess I must have hit my head pretty hard or blacked out or something because I don't remember much of what happened after that. When I woke up I was in the back of some sort of wagon. I was in some kind of small box; it had two barred windows on either side but it was hard to see out of them. My hands were bound up with a rope behind me, but I managed to get them in front of me at some point."

"Do you know where you were?" Bill asked. Immediately he sat back in his chair and closed his mouth at the annoyed look Dipper shot him.

Dipper shrugged and continued speaking, "I don't know. But it was cold. My guess at the time was that we were crossing over the mountains to the east of my village because when the wind picked up snow would come in through the windows." He sat back down in his seat and fell silent for a moment. When he started to speak again his eyes were unfocused and staring in front of him. "When they would make camp at night, they'd pull me out of the box and tie me to a tree or a rock or whatever was nearby so I couldn't run away. Most of the time they ignored me, but sometimes they..." Dipper shuddered before opening his mouth again. Instead of words, a small choked noise came out.

"You don't have to talk about it!" Bill said quickly.

Dipper didn't respond to that statement. In fact he didn't even move for a moment. When he finally spoke again his voice was hushed and strained. "Sometimes they would hit me, and at one point I thought they were going to throw me into their fire pit. But one night it was so cold and there was so much snow they couldn't leave me outside overnight, so the leader tied me up and had me thrown into his tent. That night he... he... decided to..." Tears welled up in Dipper's eyes and he fell silent again. He brought both hands up over his face and he began to shake violently.

Bill moved quickly to Dipper's side and enveloped him in his arms. He shushed him quietly and stroked soothing fingers through his hair. "You don't need to tell me any more. It's okay. You don't need to tell me anything at all.

Dipper pulled his hands from his damp face and wrapped his arms around Bill's waist. He mumbled into the chest of Bill's dress shirt, "I want to vomit when I think about it. Every time I think about I can feel it still..."

_"So that's why he hates being touched,"_ Bill thought. A new question came to his mind that he voiced aloud. "Dipper? Do you feel that way when I touch you?"

Dipper didn't answer at first. Instead he shifted to where he could look up into Bill's eyes. His brows were furrowed and his breathing was more even than before. "Of course I don't," he said quietly. "When I'm with you, I feel..." He lowered his head again to where his forehead was resting against Bill's chest. "I feel safe."

Bill felt tears of his own begin to sting his eyes but he blinked them away. _"I can't cry in front of him right now,"_ He thought, _"he's got enough on his mind without that."_

Dipper leaned back again, far enough that Bill had to loosed his arms from around his shoulders. "Bill I..." He stopped for a moment. His eyes moved from Bill's face, to the door, the window, the floor and back again. "I don't want want to talk about this anymore today."

"That's alright, you don't have to talk about it ever again if you don't want to." Bill nodded quickly and stood up. "You must be hungry. Would you like to eat something?"

"Yes, I think I should." He wiped both of his eyes on the sleeves of his dress shirt and sniffed. He stood up and laughed dryly. "I never got to finish my sandwich earlier and those lemon candies aren't very filling."

Bill let out a small laugh and let Dipper walk past him towards the bathroom. He heard the sound of running water from the other room. When it stopped, Dipper walked out a moment later wiping a towel across his face.

"You said dinner would be in the garden, correct?" Bill noted that Dipper's voice was not shaking anymore and, aside from the slight redness in his eyes, he almost couldn't tell that he'd been crying at all.

"Ah, uh, yes. I requested that I have my dinner served out in the gazebo," Bill answered absently. He scrutinized Dipper carefully as Dipper walked past him towards the door. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fi-." Dipper began to say something but stopped, took a deep breath, and spoke again over his shoulder. "I will be."

"If you say so," Bill said quietly and followed out the door behind him. They walked down the corridor in silence, Bill walking behind Dipper sand studying the back of his head. _"How can he be so normal after something like that happened to him? I don't think I would be able to do that. Even so, he was so upset only a few moments ago and you almost can't tell. How can he do that?" _He was pulled from his thoughts when he nearly ran into Dipper back as he stopped at the glass doors.

Dipper turned his head and raised an eyebrow at him."Are _you_ alright?"

"Of course," Bill laughed unconvincingly, "why would you ask that?"

Dipper pulled the door open and the pair walked out onto the balcony. "I just know that you worry a lot." Dipper slipped his hand under Bill's arm and walked beside him down the stairs and along a gravel path towards the gazebo.

Bill made a small _'hmph'_ sound at the mildly sarcastic remark, but smiled at him anyways. "Yes, maybe I do." The rounded the corner of a tall hedge and spotted the large white gazebo in the middle of a clearing of aspen trees. Set in the center of the gazebo was a small table with two chairs, it was fully set with plates, napkins, and silverware, and a vase with some of the powder blue flowers from the garden. Bill stepped ahead of Dipper and pulled a chair out for him with a certain amount of comical exaggeration. "My lady," he purred.

Dipper stifled a snort beneath a mock cough and put a hand up over his mouth. He bowed low and made his voice a little high when he spoke. "Oh my, Prince William! Such a gentleman!" Dipper flopped down into the chair and both men erupted into a fit of laughter.

"You're pretty good at that," Bill laughed, "Maybe we should go back to the tailor and get you fitted for a dress instead. Then you could be my dance partner for the whole party."

"I'm sure I'd look beautiful, but I'll have to pass," Dipper said sarcastically.

The pair turned at the sound of feet on the gravel path and spotted two servants heading towards them carrying two trays. The two mounted the stairs, one of them proceeded to place several plates of food in front of them while the other filled each of their wine glasses.

"If you would please leave the bottle on the table that would be perfect," Bill said to him. The servant nodded in response to this and Bill turned to the other one. "I think this will be just fine, we shall leave the plates on the table when we are finished."

The other servant nodded. "Very good, sir." He collected the empty tray and followed after the first.

"Help yourself." Bill gestured to the many plates in front of them.

Dipper let out a quiet scoff. "Where do I even start? There's so much food here." He surveyed the many plates with wide eyes. One plate was piled high with various fruits, cheeses, and crackers. Another was set with pieces of various sliced meats, and yet another had some sort of roast on it. There were several bowls with salads, fruits, and rice, and a few different dishes with small, decadent desserts on them.

"Well, it's all for us. So I guess whatever you want to eat first." Bill shrugged. He gave Dipper a stern look and a word of protest when Dipper almost immediately reached for a small chocolate cake. "Whatever you want to _after_ you eat some actual food."

Dipper stuck his tongue out at the prince. "You're no fun."

Bill rolled his eyes dramatically and pushed the plate containing the roast closer to Dipper. "You had _three_ boxes of that stupid candy. You'll thank me later."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say." Dipper grabbed for the plate of cake and moved it closer to him. "But _this_ is mine."

Bill chuckled and began to eat some of his own food. "Dipper?"

"Hm?" Dipper looked up at him. Bill nearly snorted when he saw that Dipper had completely stuffed his mouth with food.

"I've just had a thought." Bill put some more food onto his own plate before refilling his wine glass. "We should go to the library tomorrow morning and look at some maps. That way we might be able to figure out where exactly I'm going to be taking you back to."

Dipper swallowed his food and nodded to the prince. He took a drink from his own glass before swallowing again and responding. "Yes that's probably a good idea. I feel like if I can figure out where _here_ is, I can find a way back to Gravity Falls."

"My sentiments exactly." Bill agreed. "Also, we're going to need to give you ballroom dancing lessons."

Dipper gave him an apprehensive look. "Dancing?"

"Well, yes." Bill took a bite of food. "It is a party after all."

"But..." Dipper slumped his shoulders a little. "Do _I_ have to dance with someone? Wouldn't _you_ be doing all of the dancing?"

"Yes, likely I would be. But I can't make any guarantees that you won't end up needing to dance with someone." Bill reached for the wine bottle once more and refilled Dipper's glass.

Dipper looked unimpressed with this response and took a long swig from his glass.

"I no longer have a dancing tutor, and Pacifica went home already, otherwise we could ask her for help to teach you," Bill continued. He took a few bites of his food before clearing his throat. "Luckily for you, _I_ am an excellent dancer. So I can teach you."

"Uh-huh, I'm sure you are." Dipper rolled his eyes skeptically.

Bill scoffed. "Oh you don't believe me?"

To this Dipper shook his head and took another sip from his wine glass.

Bill stood to his feet and stepped around to Dipper's side of the table. He extended a hand out to the other man. "Alright, stand up. I'll prove it."

Dipper shifted in his seat to where he was sitting sideways facing the prince. He pushed Bill's hand aside, but still stood up from his seat and started to walk towards the Gazebo stairs. "I'll pass, thank you."

"Oh, I see." Bill folded his hands together behind his back and turned to face Dipper's back. "Forget _ballroom_ dancing, you don't know how to dance _at all_. Do you?"

"Wha-? Bu-. Of course I do!" Dipper turned around and spluttered.

Bill's response was simple: "Prove it."

Dipper crossed his arms across his chest indignantly. "Can we just go to the library like you said we would? It's getting dark out anyways, the sun is already setting."

Bill took a few steps forward and extended a hand out to the other man. He glanced quickly over Dipper's shoulder back towards the hedges and back to Dipper's eyes again. "Please?"

Dipper huffed, shook his head, and took hold Bill's offered hand. He was pulled closer to Bill's chest and Bill placed a hand onto his waist. In response Dipper placed his free hand on Bill's shoulder and gave him a lopsided grin. "Are we _really_ doing this right now?"

"Of course." Bill smiled back. "It's only dancing." Bill took the lead and they began to step in time with each other. Bill spun them a few times as they made lazy circles around the Gazebo platform. He laughed a little when Dipper nearly tripped over his feet after one of those turns. "Slow it down there. There's no need to rush."

"I know, I know." Dipper rolled his eyes dramatically but laughed nonetheless.

Bill began to hum quietly and the two fell quiet as they danced around the still-set table. The shadows around them began to stretch lazily across the ground and the evening sun cast everything in a soft, golden light. Bill pulled Dipper closer to his chest and closed his eyes as they swayed in unison. "You know," Bill said quietly into Dipper's hair, "you aren't as terrible as I thought you would be."

He heard the small sound of Dipper's muffled laughter. "Is that supposed to be your version of a compliment?"

"I only mean," Bill responded, "that you're dancing the _woman's_ part and you're still doing very well."

Dipper pulled a way a little to look up into Bill's face. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm small. So when my village had dances I would usually end up dancing with someone taller than me."

Bill half-smiled. "You're not _that_ small."

"You're right." Dipper paused a moment before grinning widely. "You're just a giant."

Bill snorted and pulled Dipper back to him. He placed his chin on top of Dipper's head and began to hum again. Without warning, Bill spun Dipper around and dipped him low in his arms causing Dipper to emit a small shriek in response. Bill smiled and leaned forward with him. "You really are fun to dance with," he mumbled.

To both of their surprise, they stayed like that for a moment; however, neither really minded all that much.

"Bill, I..." Dipper started to speak, but stopped for a moment. His eyes flitted across Bill's face a few times. "I think I..."

"Prince William?! _What_ are you _doing?!"_

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**Whoop a cliffhanger! You'll hate me for these eventually.**

**Thank you again for your continued support. I really appreciate reviews more than you guys realize, so don't be scared to leave one!**

**Chapter 11 will be out (hopefully) soon.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's chapter 11... Enjoy and leave a review!**

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"Prince William?! _What_ are you _doing?!"_

Bill straightened up instantly, nearly dropping Dipper in the process, and responded automatically, "Nothing!" He spotted a guard with his helmet held beneath his arm rounding the corner of the hedges and making his way towards the gazebo steps. "Ah-. I mean, we were dancing."

"I see, my lord." The guard bowed low in front of them. He cast his eyes quickly upon Dipper, who took a half-step behind Bill's shoulder. "I was sent to check on you. It's getting rather late and you had not returned to the palace yet. Then I saw you with... your acquaintance and became concerned."

"Oh... yes. Well, I'm fine. We were just going to finish our meal and then head back inside." Bill grappled behind him for Dipper's hand and guided them back towards the table. "I suppose I did not notice the time. I'll let my valet know when I return."

"If that is what you wish, my lord." The guard bowed again. He looked over at Dipper once more before turning and walking back into the garden.

Dipper and Bill sat back into their seats in silence for a moment before the pair erupted into a fit of laughter.

_"If that is what you wish, my lord,"_ Dipper mimicked in a stuffy voice with a dramatic bow.

Bill stifled his laughter long enough to look around them at the darkening garden. "I guess I didn't realize how late it's gotten. You better eat that cake quickly so we can head back. It will start to get cold soon and neither of us have coats."

Dipper nodded with the remnants of of laughter pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Yes, you're probably right." He moved the plate closer to himself and took a few bites from it. "So, we'll go to the library tomorrow?"

"Yes, likely so." Bill took a drink from his glass and leaned back in his chair. "How would you feel about having breakfast in my room so we can go right after?"

Dipper gave the prince a wide grin. "I'd never object to breakfast in bed."

"Well, I said nothing about _that, _but we'll see." Bill stood up from his chair and stepped around to the back of Dipper's. He pulled it out to allow Dipper to stand up.

"What if I ask nicely?" Dipper looped his arm through Bill's offered one and walked next to him down the steps and onto the gravel path.

"Again," Bill looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "we'll see."

Dipper fell silent and looked around them at the quiet garden as they walked. Bill noticed that Dipper was repeatedly looking over towards a clump of bushes and small trees and stopped walking to ask him about it.

"Oh, no it's nothing. I just thought..." Dipper shook his head and started to walk again, pulling Bill a step behind him.

Bill continued to try and stop to look behind them at the bushes. "Clearly it isn't nothing. What were you looking at?"

"I wasn't looking at anything. Can we ju-." Dipper was caught off by the a loud cracking sound emanating from the now shaking bushes. "Please, let's just go," Dipper hissed and he tugged on Bill's arm once again.

"Alright, alright." Bill let himself be pulled down the gravel pathway. He was watching over his shoulder as the shaking stopped, but nothing came out of the bushes after them. When they reached the stone steps up onto the balcony, he cast a last look back towards the garden and swore he saw a large animal moving among the darkened hedges.

Once they were inside Dipper looked out the window once before starting to walk down the hall towards Bill's room.

Bill, however, did not make much of a move to follow. He called Dipper's attention and pointed towards the window. "Did you see that?"

Dipper stopped and looked at the prince over his shoulder incredulously. "Of course I saw it! Why do you think I wanted to get inside so badly?"

"Why didn't you just say that's what you saw?!" Bill followed after Dipper down the hallway.

"I didn't want you to be concerned," Dipper explained quietly as they reached the doorway. He pushed the door open and said over his shoulder, "you _do_ worry about things and awful lot."

Bill turned and closed the door behind them. "What if it had attacked us?"

"I'm sorry, sir. What if _what_ had attacked you?" Bill spun at the sound of his valet's voice in the room and found the man standing beside the wardrobe with a half-folded shirt in his hands.

"Ah, uh, you see..." Bill ran a hand through his hair and glanced towards the window. "Dipper and I believe we saw some sort of animal in the garden while we were out. We were worried that it may have been a wolf or a mountain lion of some sort."

"I see," the valet sounded skeptical and he glanced between the two men with scrutiny, "Should I send for an exterminator then, my lord?"

"Yes, that would be a go-."

Dipper suddenly interrupted the pair and stepped closer to grab onto Bill's arm. "No! Don't hurt the poor thing!"

"What do you mean 'poor thing?' It's a wild animal, Dipper." Bill furrowed his brow and attempted to pull his arm free. He looked at Dipper strangely for a moment before remembering who was also in the room with them. "Please, could you leave us? I'll dress myself tonight, and I'd like breakfast brought to my room in the morning."

"Of course, my lord." The valet nodded, closed the wardrobe, and headed for the door. He stopped in the doorway with a pointed look at Dipper. "Please notify me if you have need anything else."

Bill waited until the door was shut and he could no longer hear any noise in the hallway to speak again. "Why do you have a problem with an exterminating searching for that animal? That seems like a silly thing to be concerned about."

Dipper shook his head with a sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed. "It wasn't hurting us, why do you have to have someone kill it?"

"But it _could_ have. Wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry?" Bill sat sideways in his dressing table chair and looked over towards the other man.

"Not if it means killing it for no reason!" Dipper raised his voice and the color was rising in his cheeks.

"Dipper this isn't that big of a deal. Why are you so upset about it? It's just an animal." Bill shook his head and leaned forward.

Dipper brought his hands up over his face a moment before moving them animatedly. "It isn't _hurting_ anybody!

Bill turned in his chair to face the mirror and said over his shoulder, "Dipper, it's not supposed to be here."

"Neither am I." Dipper said it before he really thought about it, and was already halfway to the bathroom before Bill had much of a chance to register.

Bill stood up and strode after him. "Dipper! Wait that's no-." He was cut off by the slamming of the bathroom door followed by the sound of running water. "Good grief!" Bill kicked the column beside him in frustration. _"What is his deal?! It's just a stupid animal!"_ Bill fumed silently. Paced around the room a few times trying his best to calm himself. He walked back towards the bathroom door and knocked gently.

The water was turned off, but there was no response so he knocked once more. "Dipper?" He waited, and again there was no sound. "Come on, I know you can hear me."

There was a muffled shout of "go away" followed by a splashing sound on the other side of the door.

"Dipper, please, you know that wasn't what I meant." Bill tried to turn the handle but found it to be locked. He jiggled the handle a few more times before turning around and sitting on the floor with his back to the door. "Can we talk about this?"

"Go. Away." He heard Dipper say more firmly and loudly. "I don't want to talk to you."

He thought that he shouldn't, but Bill persisted anyways. "Why are you so mad about this?" He didn't get a response so he groaned and called through the door, "would you like me to bring you some clothes?" Again Dipper did not respond, but Bill picked himself up from the floor and collected a fresh pair of pajamas from the wardrobe and placed them on the ground in front of the locked door.

He picked up his hand to knock once more, but decided against it. Instead, he returned to the wardrobe and changed into his own nightclothes. Bill went around the room and turned off most oil lamps, casting the room in a dim flickering light. He grabbed a book from the table by the armchairs and dragged one of the chairs towards the window. He slumped down into the armchair and opened the book. He tried in vain for a few minutes to read it, but quickly discovered how little focus he had. He dropped the book into his lap with a heavy sigh and closed his eyes.

He opened them once more when he heard the pattering sound of raindrops colliding with the window panes. In the distance, he could see the flashes of lightening illuminating the night sky. The prince watched the flash of lightening and listened to the soft rumble of the thunder with glazed eyes, only pulled from the view of the window at the sound of the bathroom door opening behind him.

Dipper was stooped in the doorway, collecting the clothes from the floor and casting a glance towards where Bill was sitting. He turned back around and closed the door, emerging a few minutes later wearing the pajamas. He walked over to the window and stood beside Bill's chair, placing a hand on the headrest.

"It's raining," Dipper mumbled.

Bill had to refrain from noting that Dipper was stating the obvious. He opted instead to shift in his seat and offer the space beside him to the other man, and slid his book down onto the ground.

Dipper did not move towards it right away. Instead he walked over towards the bed and pulled the comforter off of it and dragging it behind him. He sat down in the armchair beside the prince and slung the blanket over them. "Your room is always so cold," he remarked quietly.

"So you've said." Bill shifted the blanket up around his shoulders and looked back towards the window. Just as he was considering voicing the question in his mind, Dipper spoke instead.

"It bothered me because you wanted to hurt something that was defenseless and scared just because you could." Dipper shifted and placed his head on Bill's shoulder. "That's what people have done to _me_, so why should I let you do it to something else?"

"I guess... I guess I didn't think of that." Bill placed his own head on top of Dipper's and reached for the smaller man's hand beneath the blanket. Dipper's hair was wet and smelled like soap and it was cold on Bill's shoulder, but the prince didn't mind it. "But even so, it could have been dangerous. You see why I can't let it roam freely on the grounds, don't you."

Dipper let out a heavy sigh and allowed Bill to grasp his hand. "Yes, I suppose I do."

There was a flash of lightening that illuminated the dark room followed by a loud rumble of thunder. The sound of the rain hitting the window became louder as the wind picked up.

"I never actually thanked you," Bill remarked. He pulled the blanket up around them once more . "If it had been something dangerous, you saying something would have saved me. If you hadn't said anything we both could have been hurt."

Dipper pulled his feet up under the blanket and into the chair. He turned sideways and place his feet on the other side of Bill's legs. "You've protected me so many times. It's only fair that I should protect you too."

Bill released Dipper's hand and moved to a more comfortable position with his arm wrapped around Dipper's back. "I promised that I would."

"Yes, I know." Dipper's voice was partly muffled by the blanket pulled up to his chin. "But even if we hadn't promised, I think you would protect me anyways. I don't know if you're kind or if you're just a fool, but you protect people like me even if you don't have to.

Bill tilted his head to look down at Dipper, but Dipper's eyes were trained on the window. "How would that make me a fool?"

Instead of answering, Dipper simply shrugged and pulled the blanket up tighter around himself.

After a particularly long flash of lightening, Bill looked back to the window. "Well, I think _you_ are a fool sometimes too."

Dipper didn't move much other than to adjust his head against Bill's chest, but he made a small questioning sound at the remark.

"I'm only saying that you act very much like a child sometimes," Bill explained. "You're impulsive, and silly, and sometimes incredibly stubborn. But, it's something that I like about you."

"That's fair, I suppose," Dipper said quietly. The pair were silent for a long while. The room filled with the sounds of the pattering rain and the low rumble of thunder.

After some time, Dipper shifted his head against Bill's chest again. "I've always liked the rain," he said, his voice impossibly soft. "I like the sound of the raindrops hitting the roof and the feeling you get in your chest when the thunder is loud. I like when the lightening turns purple and lights up the whole sky so you can see the clouds behind it. I like the way the grass steams and the warm fog settles across the ground the morning after a rain storm, and I even like it when your socks get wet because the tall weeds reach all the way up your calves." He paused for a moment as another flash of lightening sent a crack of thunder rolling through the air. "It rains a lot back home. It's probably one of the things I miss the most.

"I've never really liked the rain," Bill admitted. "But you make it sound so wonderful. I envy the way that you see things."

"I can't wait for you to see it." Dipper said wistfully. At the inquiring sound, Dipper clarified, "The mist on the redwood trees. When the rain stops it brings the sweet smell out of the bark and the peat and the pine needles. It's the most wonderful thing."

Another long crack of thunder shook through the room. Bill pulled up the comforter a little higher and adjusted his arms around Dipper's shoulders. "I can't wait to see it either."

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**So this chapter was a little bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but I have some plans for where I want this to go that work a little better if I end this chapter here. Thank you again for all of the support and reviews!**

**Chapter 12 will be out soon!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Despite being busy, I've somehow found enough time to get out 3 chapters pretty quickly. Thank you so much for your support!**

**Enjoy chapter 12!**

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A particularly loud crack of thunder pulled Bill from his sleep. He blinked tiredly a few times as his senses woke up alongside him until he could feel the weight spread across his lap and chest. He glanced down to find Dipper with the blanket pulled tightly around his shoulders. His breathing was shallow and quiet and his eyelids were fluttering slightly. The boy was curled up in Bill's lap and had one hand gripped onto Bill's nightshirt.

Bill sighed at the realization that the two of them had fallen asleep together in the armchair in front of the window. He looked back up to watch the rain fall in streaks down the window panes.

_"It seems like Dipper can fall asleep anywhere,"_ Bill thought. He leaned his head back against the soft headrest of the armchair and gazed out into the dark garden. He listened to the sound of the rainfall and the occasional rumbles of thunder outside.

He looked back down when Dipper shifted in his arms._"I should probably take him to bed. This can't be that comfortable."_

Bill positioned his arms underneath Dipper's legs and behind his back and carried him to the bedside. He set him down as gently as he could, ensuring that the blanket still covered him. Then, he returned to the chair by the window and stooped down to collect the discarded book from the floor. He placed it on the end table where the other chair and the couch were on the far side of the room. On his way back to the bed, he noted that most of the oil lamps he'd left on that night had burned themselves out. He stopped to turn off the one's that were still burning.

He sat down the the edge of the bed and looked over at Dipper who was still soundly asleep. _"I hope that our conversation earlier wont give him unpleasant dreams. At least it doesn't seem like it is right now." _Bill reached over a brushed a few stray locks of hair from Dipper's face. _"If we can find out where he's from tomorrow, we'll be one step closer to getting him back home."_

Bill laid down and pulled the covers up over himself and, with one last look at Dipper, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

"Bill? Hey, wake up sleepy head. Breakfast is here."

Bill opened his eyes at the soft voice and the hand shaking his shoulder. "Mm? Whas'at?"

"Breakfast," Dipper said again with a laugh. "You must be really tired. You look even worse than usual."

"Gee, thank you." Bill sat up and rubbed one of his eyes with the back of his hand. He watched Dipper climb off the bed and sit down in the remaining armchair on the other side of the room. On the table in front of him was an array of food and a two steaming cups of tea. Bill stood up from the bed and stretched with a groan. "Good grief, how are you not stiff as a board from falling asleep the way you did?"

Dipper shrugged as he took a bite out of a biscuit. Through his partially full mouth, Bill could make out something along the lines of "I dunno. If I'm tired, than I'll sleep anywhere."

The prince chuckled and took a seat on the couch across from the chair where Dipper was sitting. He grabbed a few strawberries off of a dish and looked towards the window. "Looks like the rain has stopped," he remarked between bites.

"Do you think we can go for a walk after we're finished in the library?" Dipper pulled his legs up criss-crossed into the armchair and reached for another pastry.

"I'm not sure. We still need to make sure you can dance," Bill laughed at the look Dipper flashed him and continued, "also, your suit should arrive sometime after dinner tomorrow and we'll need to make sure it fits. On top of that, we have to ensure you have all the proper clothes before we leave. I'm fairly certain we are going to leave sometime after breakfast and we'll arrive around lunch time. I need to arrange a separate carriage for us to ride in, and I have a few letters I need to write and send to the postmaster before dinner tonight."

"So..." Dipper dropped his shoulders and pulled a face. "What you're saying is we probably _won't_ have time to go for a walk today?"

"Likely not." Dipper looked disappointed at this answer but didn't press it further. Bill took a biscuit from the tray and put some butter and honey on top of it before walking towards the wardrobe. He placed the biscuit in his mouth and held it between his teeth as he unbuttoned his nightshirt.

Dipper walked past him towards the bathroom and held back a snort of laughter. "Why don't you just set the biscuit down and _then_ change your clothes?"

Bill dropped the nightshirt onto the ground and pulled the biscuit out of his mouth. "It's called 'efficiency,' Dipper."

"Sure. Whatever you say, your highness." Dipper waved a hand beside his head loftily and walked into the bathroom.

Bill took that opportunity to shed the remainder of his clothes and change into a white dress shirt and slacks. As he was sitting down at the dressing table, Dipper exited the bathroom and walked over to stand beside Bill and look into the mirror.

As Bill was running a comb through his hair, Dipper turned his head to look at the prince. He stared for a long moment before opening his mouth to speak. "You _really_ don't look like you slept very well."

"Well, that _could be_ because I had someone fall asleep on top of me in an armchair last night." Bill rolled his eyes at the comment. "But that's only a guess."

Dipper shrugged and turned back to the mirror. He combed his fingers through his hair. "Hmph, well whoever fell asleep on top of you must have just been very tired."

"Must have been," Bill laughed and stood up from the table. "Go ahead and change clothes so we can go." Bill went into the bathroom but poked his head out a moment later. "Oh! And eat whatever else you want, they'll come in and take the tray once we leave and the bookkeeper doesn't allow snacks in the library."

He closed the bathroom door behind him once more and came back out a few minutes later. He was pleased to see that Dipper had changed clothes like he'd asked him to and was lounging across the couch with a few pieces of fruit and cheese in his hands. Bill walked over to where the other armchair was still placed by the window and dragged it back into place beside the other chairs. "Alright." Bill grabbed another scone and took a bite out of it. "Are you ready?"

Dipper stood up with a nod and took another handful of grapes as the pair walked to the door. He popped one into his mouth and stepped out into the hallway. He waited as Bill shut the door behind them and began to walk backwards slightly in front of the prince.

"What are you doing?" Bill looked at him with a laugh.

"Hm?" Dipper put another grape into his mouth and tilted his head. He looked down at his feet and then back to the prince. "Oh. I'm walking."

Bill raised an inquisitive eyebrow and took a bite from his scone. "Backwards?"

"Yeah," Dipper said simply with a small shrug.

Bill decided not to question it, instead opting to tell him that if he continued to walk backwards he'd end up walking into a column.

Dipper popped another grape into his mouth and turned around to walk normally. "Just for the record, I'm walking normally now because I want to and not because you said to."

Bill let out a snort of laughter and shook his head before finishing off his scone. "Whatever you say. The library is on the left up here so hurry up and finish those grapes." When Dipper shoved the rest of them into his mouth all at once Bill hit him on the shoulder lightly. "Not all at once, idiot!"

Dipper chewed for a moment, swallowed, half-coughed, and then laughed. "You said finish them!"

Bill pinched the bridge of his nose with an exasperated sigh. "Good grief." They arrived at the library door and Bill pulled the door open, ushering Dipper inside. Bill stepped ahead of them into the large library mumbling, "where is that old man?"

His question was answered when a wrinkled old man wearing a long brown coat and a scraggly, patchy beard stuck his head out from behind one of the tall bookshelves. "Ah! Prince William. What's brought you to my dark and damp corner of the castle today?"

"We're looking for some maps, master Irving." Bill gestured to Dipper and himself.

"Excellent, your highness. Please, follow me." The man lead them through the rows of bookshelves, past several desks piled with papers, and several nooks filled with textbooks about astronomy, medicine, and many others. He took them up a spiral staircase and onto a balcony that overlooked the rest of the library. "The maps of our kingdom are mostly found in the books on these shelves, anything from a wider area will be found on the shelf on the far wall. Please let me know if you require any assistance, my lord." He then headed towards the spiral staircase.

The prince nodded his thanks and headed over to one of the bookshelves. Dipper sat down at one of the cluttered tables and pushed the books and old papers to the side. Bill returned to the table with several books in his arms and set them down. He picked one from the stack and flipped through a few pages.

Dipper put his cheek in his hand and watched Bill in silence for a moment before pulling a different book from the stack. "Where do we even start with all of these?"

"Well, you said that you crossed over mountains that were east from your village, right?" Bill continued to thumb through pages until he arrived at a large map with a mountain range running down the middle of it.

Dipper shrugged and leaned over to look at the page Bill was inspecting. "The only mountains near us are the one's to the east and I couldn't possibly have been out for that long, so that's what I assumed. But I don't know if we actually _crossed_ the range. See how this part spreads out to the west?" Dipper pointed to where the top of the range began to sprawl outwards and the depictions of the mountains became further spread apart. "We may have just crossed over _one_ of these."

"Well that's fine. We can work off of that." Bill stood up and grabbed another book from the shelf. He flipped through a few pages before setting the book above the other. There was another mountain range on these pages, and Bill lined the mountains up with the one on the other book. "All we have to do is look on the west side of these mountains until we find your village."

"What if these aren't the right mountains?" Dipper questioned as his eyes scanned down the left side of the page.

Bill shrugged and leaned over to search the page. "Well, then we'll just find some more mountains."

Dipper placed one finger on the page and began to run it down the paper between the different village markers. "I'm not even sure if my village would be on here. It's so small..." he paused a moment before looking over at Bill with a questioning look. "Do you have any maps of the Northwest?"

"The Northwest?" He furrowed his eyebrows and stood up to walk over to the far bookshelf. "Well, yes I'm sure that we do. We've been allies with the Northwest kingdom for hundreds of years. Why?"

"That's the kingdom my village is in. We're on the outskirts to the North, but it's in their territory." Dipper explained simply and took the map book from Bill's hands.

Bill grabbed onto Dipper's shoulder excitedly. "Dipper! That's where we're _going_. Pacifica is the princess of the Northwest!"

"Are you serious?!" Dipper wheeled around with wide eyes.

Bill sat down in the other chair and flipped through several pages until he landed on one that had the same mountain range on the far right of the page and a small painted castle and village towards the center. "Of course I'm serious. Look, the castle is right here, so that means your village is somewhere on the top of this map."

Dipper's eyes scanned quickly over the page, flitting from marker to marker until he began to shake his head slowly. "It... it isn't on here."

"Don't be discouraged! Here, look at this." Bill pointed to the Northwest castle and drug his finger across the page to a depiction of their own castle near the bottom right corner of the page near the mountains. "See, we're going to follow this road to go to the party tomorrow. If you crossed over one of the mountains to the north to get to _my_ kingdom, then your village _is_ up here somewhere. It may just be too small to be listed on the map."

"I don't know..." Dipper looked up from where Bill was pointing. "How can we get there if we don't know where it is?"

Bill flashed him a shaky smile. "Well, we're going there in two days. I'm sure Pacifica will be able to help you." He looked back at the map and though for a moment. "Didn't you say that there was a fire?"

Dipper nodded and looked out over the balcony towards the tops of the library shelves.

"And you said that the men said something about 'the guard' coming?" When Dipper nodded again, Bill continued. "Then Pacifica _must_ have heard about it!" Dipper looked skeptical at this proclamation but nodded with a half-smile nonetheless.

"Yeah. I'm sure you're right." Dipper looked back to map once more and dropped his shoulders. A wistful look crossed over his face for a moment and he spoke softly, "I might get to go home, Bill."

Bill watched him for a moment before he answered. "Yeah... I guess you will."

_"That's right... home."_

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**Well there's chapter 12! Please leave a review if you enjoyed!**

**I'd like to say a quick thank you to everyone who has sent me prompts and ideas! Please keep doing so! If you didn't know, I have a series of BillDip oneshots where I write these prompts & drabbles. Feel free to read them if you want to :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Whoop chapter 13!**

**I figured that this should be a long one considering I made you wait so long. Because I hate myself and I can't help it this chapter contains _even more _angst!**

**I hope you enjoy!**

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_"That's right... home," _Bill thought, _"If we can find out where he's from I can take him home. But I haven't solved my problem yet, and he said he'd stay with me until then... at least my parents have narrowed their view down to one suitor, but that's still one too many. Besides, he's my friend now,__ I can't possibly say no to taking him home if we were so close, but even so..."_

"Hey, Bill. Are you in there?" Bill was pulled from his thoughts by Dipper snapping his fingers in front of his face.

Bill shook his head and lifted his chin from his hand. "Wha-? Oh. Yes, of course."

"It's your turn now." Dipper gestured to the chess board that was set on the table between them. After they had finished in the library, the pair had decided to go back to the prince's room to relax and eat a small lunch. Afterwards they had planned to go to the ballroom to do some dancing practice.

"Yes, right." Bill looked down at the board in front of them and picked up a random piece and moved it into place.

Dipper gave him a questioning look. "Are you _sure_ you want to do that?" At Bill's nod, Dipper picked up his own piece and knocked it into Bill's. "That's checkmate I think."

Bill looked mildly surprised by this development. "Oh, so it would seem. Well done."

"Are you okay?" Dipper asked suddenly. He looked between the board and the prince "You seem awfully distracted."

"Do I?" The prince reached for the bowl of fruit placed beside the chess board and took a few pieces. He took a bite from a slice of apple and looked towards the window.

Dipper tilted his head curiously and began to collect the pieces and put them back into place. "Yes. More so than usual, and that takes a lot."

Bill chuckled softly at this answer and looked back to the other man. "That's awfully nice of you."

Dipper smiled widely. "What were you thinking about?" As Bill opened his mouth, Dipper put up a finger and stopped him. "Don't say 'nothing' because I know that it isn't."

"Alright, you've caught me." Bill put up both hands in surrender. "I was thinking about the party tomorrow," he lied. He figured it would be easier to give a reasonable lie as opposed to telling him the truth at the risk of sounding crazy.

Dipper leaned forward onto his elbows. "Oh? Are you _that_ excited to see Pacifica again?" He teased. Dipper wiggled his eyebrows, which made Bill laugh.

"Maybe I am. What about it?" Bill laughed unconvincingly, but If Dipper had noticed he didn't respond to it.

"Oh nothing," Dipper shrugged. He paused for a moment before flashing the prince a smug grin. "I just think she'd be pleased to know you're thinking about her."

"You think so?" The prince raised an eyebrow. _"I think she'd be **less** pleased to know what I'm actually thinking about. If she knew that I've considered not taking him back for even a second she'd have my head on a platter and take him back herself."_

Dipper narrowed his eyes suddenly and inspected the prince's face carefully. "You aren't thinking about Pacifica _at all_, are you?!" He shot accusingly. Bill shrugged as a response and reached for another handful of fruit. "You liar! I knew it!" Dipper bounced in his seat as he spoke. "Come on, fess up. What is it _really_?"

"Alright, alright. It looks like you know me a little better than I thought," Bill admitted begrudgingly. He stood up from his chair and started to walk towards the bedroom door. "But I'll have to tell you about it later. It isn't important right now."

Dipper groaned and followed after him into the hallway. "That's not fair."

Dipper continued to try to get him to say what he was thinking, but Bill was not paying much attention. _"I can't possibly expect him to stay. There's no way he would accept that as a reason, especially not when we'll be so close."_ Dipper fell silent with a sour look on his face and Bill looked down at him with a soft smile. _"This is not the time to be selfish, William. As much as you many want him to stay..."_ Bill shook his head quickly and pinched his eyes shut for a moment.

"Dipper?" The smaller man looked over at the prince with a glower. "If..." Bill chose his words carefully, "If Pacifica can't help us find your village in the time that we're there, what do you want to do?"

Dipper's expression softened as he considered the question for a long moment. "Well... I guess I..." He shook his head minutely. "I don't really know. I hadn't really considered that as a possibility if I'm honest with myself."

"I'm afraid we do have to consider the possibility, Dipper." Bill placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder. "I want to know what you expect to happen if we can't find a way back yet."

Dipper looked down at his feet and stopped walking, causing Bill to stop with him. He took a few long breaths before he spoke again. "Even if I can't go home right away..." He looked back up with a sad smile. "You aren't the only one who made a promise, Bill. Don't forget that, okay?"

Dipper turned and began to walk down the hallway once more, leaving Bill standing in the middle of the carpet watching him walk. _"Of course I haven't forgotten. But... even so..."_

When Bill didn't follow after him, Dipper turned and extended a hand out to him. "Are you coming?"

"Of course," Bill gave him a half-smile and stepped forward to take the offered hand. He walked alongside the smaller man down the corridor towards the ballroom. He let Dipper guide him willingly so he didn't need to pay much attention to where he was walking - a very good thing when you're thinking too much to pay attention to direction.

"You're thinking again," Dipper remarked plainly as they walked. "Stop doing that."

Bill snorted at the snide remark. "You want me to stop _thinking_?"

"Yes. You make a dumb face when you do that." Dipper released Bill's hand as they arrived at the ballroom door.

"I don't make a face." Bill said irritably and looked at Dipper over his shoulder as he pushed the door open.

Dipper stepped past him into the ballroom and looked around at the large room. "Must just be your face."

Bill scoffed and followed behind him into the room, shutting the door behind him. "Oh really?"

Dipper did not respond to the question. Instead his eyes were fixed on the wide ceiling that was covered in painted figures along it's length. He spun in small circles as his eyes moved from the orchestra balcony, to the gold chandeliers, to the circular, stained-glass window in the center of the ceiling that cast a multi-colored circle into the center of the ballroom floor. To their left, on a raised platform in a semi-circular cutout in the wall, was a grand piano that was covered with a cloth. "Wow. I never really got a good look at this room the first time. It's impressive."

"Just wait until you see the ballroom tomorrow. It's much nicer than ours." Bill regarded the room appreciatively as he spoke.

"Wait a minute." Dipper turned around and put both hands up in front of him, one of his hands pointing at the prince. "I thought that you'd only met her at your party. How would you know what the ballroom was like at her palace without ever meeting her?"

Bill shuffled a foot on the ground and looked around the room again. "Well, I'd been to their palace once when I was younger. I likely _had_ met her at some point and just didn't remember, it was a really long time ago." He shrugged. "Besides, it isn't uncommon for royalty to be sent overseas for schooling, so I wouldn't be surprised if she'd done that."

"I guess that makes sense... sort of." Dipper's tone made it sound as if he believed it was an incredibly stupid explanation, but Bill chose not to remark on that fact.

"Alright, he should be here any minute and we can begin." At the raised eyebrow he received Bill clarified, "the pianist. I figured it would be easier to practice with music."

"Oh, fair point." Dipper spun in a small circle and looked back up to the ceiling. "How long do you think it took to paint this room? It's massive"

Bill knelt down and adjusted the laces on his dress shoes without regarding the ceiling. "Likely a pretty long time if I chanced a guess."

"Can you paint?" Dipper moved to take a seat on the edge of the platform that the piano was set upon.

"Not well, but yes." Bill straightened up and held out his arms as if he was holding an invisible dance partner. He began to take small-half steps as he hummed quietly in a mock dance.

Dipper watched him curiously for a moment. "Well, _I_ can paint."

"Oh really?" The prince adjusted his arms and began to move his feet in a different pattern than before. "Are you any good?"

Dipper shrugged. "Yes, my mother taught me when I was little." He smiled fondly and let a small laugh pass through his lips. "I was absolutely dreadful at first, but I'm much better at it now."

"What do you like to paint?" Bill stopped his dancing as the door on the far end of the hall opened and a man entered.

The man made his way across the room to them as Dipper answered. "Flowers, mostly. But I have painted my sister and my uncle before."

"Wow, you'll have to show me your painting sometime. That can be your payment for my dance lessons."

Dipper stood up with an exaggerated eye roll. "I don't even _need_ dance lessons. I think _you_ just wanted an excuse to dance with me."

Bill looked as if he was about to make an indignant response, but could not as the pianist reached them. The man reached the pair and bowed to the prince and to Dipper. "What piece would you like me to begin with, my lord?"

"We're going to start with a waltz. Whatever piece you'd like to play for that will be excellent. Dipper, if you please." Bill extended a hand out to Dipper and pulled him up to his feet. "Do you know how to waltz?"

Dipper took Bill's offered hands and looked down at his feet momentarily. "I think I do, but I'm not sure. Remind me?"

"Alright, I'll play the woman's part." Bill looked down to their feet and stepped back with his right foot. "You step forward with your left foot first as I move my right foot back, then bring your right foot even with it. Then we'll just go from there."

Dipper nodded quickly and moved his foot forward experimentally. "Alright, I think I've got it. Let's try"

"Very well. Maestro, if you please." Bill nodded to the pianist, who began to play. They took a few slow steps in unison. Dipper's eyes were glued to their feet and he was chewing his bottom lip intently. "Remember, the man needs to lead when dancing." Dipper looked up from their feet to listen. "You need to be sure of your footsteps, and don't forget to look at the lady you're dancing with."

"Right, right," Dipper mumbled. He took another glance down at his feet before beginning to speed the pair up in their movements.

"There. Just like that," Bill praised. "How do you feel about this one?"

Dipper released Bill's hand and waist and took a step back. The pianist ceased his playing and looked over at the pair expectantly. "I think I've got it, can we try another one?"

"Of course." The pair danced a few more dances, making idle conversation as they did.

At one point they had to take a break because they began to laugh too hard after Dipper tripped over his own feet and fell flat down on the ground. "You couldn't have even _tried_ to catch me?" Dipper looked up at the prince with mock-anger after he had made a pointed side-step out of the falling man's path.

Bill simply shrugged and offered a hand down to Dipper. "I thought you could stick the landing. My mistake."

Dipper rolled his eyes with a smile. Once he was standing he gave Bill a playful punch to the shoulder. "Jerk."

"Oh, thank you," Bill said with a dramatic bow and a flourish of his hand. "You're too kind." Bill turned to the pianist with a small bow. "I think we will be finished for the day. Thank you very much for your assistance."

"Of course, my lord." The pianist bowed to both men before making towards the exit of the ballroom and pulling the door shut behind him.

Dipper crossed his arms in front of his chest and cocked his head to the side as the pianist left. "You know," he said slowly, "I think he's the first person to not give me a second glance of suspicion since I arrived. Which is incredibly curious considering the activity."

"Oh? I suppose I didn't notice." Bill toed his foot against the side of the piano platform. In truth he had noticed, but he didn't want to remark on it and darken the mood.

"Well, I did." Dipper went silent after that and Bill was unsure of what exactly he should say in response. Dipper's arms dropped from his chest to rest his hands on his hips. He spun on his heel to look over at the prince. "You know, you don't suck at dancing nearly as much as I thought you would. I thought you were all talk."

Bill chose to not remark on the comment, this visibly frustrated Dipper who was clearly looking for a rise in the prince. _"He really is like a child, always wanting his way,"_ He thought, _"not this time."_

Dipper took a few steps towards the door and said over his shoulder, "I don't think you wanted to help me learn to dance at all. I think you just wanted to dance with me because you miss dancing with princess Pacifica."

"Is _that_ what you think?" Bill took a few steps after him and crossed his arms across his chest.

Dipper nodded with a pleased smile. "Oh yes. I think you just miss her so terribly much you just don't know what to do with yourself." He draped a hand over his forehead dramatically.

"Whatever you say," Bill rolled his eyes and walked past Dipper to the door. _"Why does he bring her up so often?! I don't have time to think about her right now."_

"What's the problem your highness?" Dipper continued. His hands were clasped behind his back and he was keeping step behind the prince and they entered the hallway. "Are you upset because you're a bad dancer? Or is it because the princess isn't here for you to smooch?"

Bill clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Oh, shut it would you. You're being more of a pain than usual," he growled.

Dipper leaned forward slightly, a grin plastered on his features. "And what are you going to do if I do-. Hey!" Dipper was cut off by Bill spinning on him and grabbing the collar of the smaller man's shirt roughly. Bill pushed him backwards until the flat of his back hit the wall of an alcove between two statues.

"I said 'shut. it.'" Bill said slowly, his tone thoroughly un-amused. He leaned forward close to Dipper's face, blue eyes scanning Dipper's features slowly. "It seems to me that you _like_ when I do this. Is that it? You like being pushed around? Otherwise I can't understand why you seem to enjoy attempting to get a rise out of me."

"Wha-? No!" Dipper spluttered. He let out a nervous laugh and pushed against Bill's fingers that were clenched in his shirt. "Let go of me." When Bill didn't immediately release his shirt, Dipper's eyes widened a little and he pushed against Bill's had a little harder. "I said let go!"

Bill clicked his tongue again and released Dipper's shirt; however, he didn't step away. Instead he stayed in front of Dipper, effectively caging him in the alcove with his own body. "If that isn't it, then why, pray tell, you insist on being a constant pain? Honestly, you're behaving like a child."

"It's a joke your _Highness,_" Dipper retorted. His own venom at the prince's reaction seeped through his words. "Why are you getting all worked up about a stupid joke?!"

Bill huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. He took a step away, putting distance between himself and Dipper. "Maybe," his voice was softer but still strained, "it's because I have a lot of things going on right now and your persistent irritation has put me a _little_ bit on edge."

Dipper crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Oh yeah? Things like what?"

Bill did not answer at first, only looked at Dipper's defiant form in front of him. A scowl took over his face when he did. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe things like trying to keep your trouble-attracting ass from getting killed every other day! Or maybe, I am just a _little_ bit worried about finding a way to get _you_ home. Or perhaps I'm just sick of you going on about Pacifica all the _damn_ time! Or it could _possibly_ be that I'm now having to be responsible for you on top of my other issues!"

"I didn't _ask_ for you to be responsible for me." Dipper shot back. "I didn't want your help to begin with!"

Bill scoffed. "Oh, of course. Because you were doing _just fine_ before I helped you."

"If I'm such a problem then just get rid of me!" The words caught in his throat as he shouted them. Dipper let out a few shaky pants before shoving Bill out of his path and stomping down the hallway in the direction of the prince's room.

The prince watched him until he'd rounded the corner before kicking the wall in anger. He walked down the hall in the same direction Dipper had gone, muttering angrily. He arrived back at his room, expecting to find Dipper locked in the bathroom or hidden beneath he covers on the bed; however, he was not. Bill was relieved in some ways - he really was not in the mood for another shouting match.

_"Honestly! How insufferable can he be?!" _Bill thought angrily. He sat down at his dressing table and brushed his hair out of his face. _"Why can't he just understand why this situation could cause me problems? I don't have the time to worry about him **and** Pacifica, not to mention that I'm also having to keep other people away from him."_ Bill leaned back in his chair and placed both of his hands over his face. _"He's so different from when he got here - although I can't blame him for behaving that way. Although, I almost prefer it to the way he's acting right now. He's such a **child**!"_

Bill uncovered his face and stood up from the chair. He walked to the bathroom and splashed some cool water from the wash basin onto his face. _"Why would he say that anyways? Of course I don't want to get rid of him, he's just being difficult."_ Bill dried his face with a towel and sighed. "Alright, I suppose I'd better go find him," he muttered as he walked to the door. "He's such a magnet for trouble I'd be surprised if he hasn't already been mugged."

Luckily for him, there were servants in the hallway. He stopped one of the maids and asked if she'd seen Dipper anywhere in the hallway.

"Yes, my lord." She bowed quickly and pointed down the hallway. "The last time I saw him he was heading towards the garden."

He nodded his thanks before turning and walking down the corridor. _"He's probably not even going to want to talk to me." _He reached the glass doors out onto the balcony and stepped outside. There was a bit of a chill in the wind that caused him to shiver. _"At least it's cold enough that I could probably convince him that he should come inside."_

The prince walked to the stone railing and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Dipper!" When there was no response, Bill sighed and walked down the steps onto the gravel path. "Dipper! Come on, it's too cold to be out here without a coat!" He wound down the path, past the lake, and down several rows of hedges. When Dipper was nowhere to be found in those placed, the prince made his way towards the gazebo. He rubbed his hands against the sides of his arms as the wind picked up around him.

He rounded the hedge wall that encircled the gazebo, but Dipper was nowhere in sight. Bill let out a heavy sigh and walked up the gazebo stairs. "Dipper! Please, we need to go inside! Come out!" He shouted again.

This time, he received a response in the form of a loud sniffle and and muffled 'go away' from somewhere nearby.

Bill looked around him a few times before walking towards the railing on the far side. He looked down and found Dipper sitting on the grass with his back to the gazebo platform, knees pulled to his chest, and head down in his arms.

"Dipper." He could see Dipper visibly stiffen where he was sitting. Bill released another sigh and walked off of the gazebo platform and around to where Dipper was sitting. He placed himself on the ground beside the other man, leaving space on the grass between them. The grass was wet beneath them from the rain the night before. "Dipper, it's too cold to be out here without a coat on."

"Go. Away." Dipper's voice was still muffled by his arms.

Bill pulled his own knees up and wrapped his arms around them. "Dipper you _know_ that I would never sa-."

"Do I?" Dipper interrupted him sarcastically. Bill looked over to find Dipper resting his chin on his folded arms, eyes focused somewhere in front of him. "I'm not really sure I know _anything_ about you."

Bill did his best to hold back his impatient sigh. "Is that really fair?"

"Well, I didn't think that you would shove me into a wall and yell at me." He paused and took a hard swallow. "I also didn't know that you thought I was such a burden. I thought we were friends. I guess that was my mistake."

"Dipper that isn-."

"Stop being so _selfish__!"_ Dipper interrupted again. His eyes were shut and he was shaking slightly, but Bill couldn't decide if it was from anger or being about to cry. "You always do this. Why can't you let me just _be_ upset? You always try to fix things. I don't want to be fixed! I want to be angry!"

Bill nodded slowly, although Dipper wasn't looking to be able to see it. "Can you at least be angry with me somewhere warm? I can't have you catching a cold before we leave."

Dipper did not answer. He didn't even really move much to give any indication that he would take the suggestion. He sat incredibly still, eyes trained forward, for a long while. Bill could see the goosebumps rising on Dipper's skin and the small shivers every couple of seconds. After several minutes, Dipper unfolded his arms from on top of his knees and pushed himself off of the ground. He mumbled a begrudged 'fine' before crossing his arms across his chest and walking back towards the palace.

Bill stood and followed after him, leaving a few feet of space between them. As they got inside, Dipper began to walk towards the prince's room. Bill - still standing by the doors - reached out for Dipper's hand, an action that was brushed aside. The prince sighed and pointed down the hall in the opposite direction. "We're going this way."

"Oh, are we?" Dipper huffed. He spun on his heel and followed the prince down the corridor.

The pair walked in uncomfortable silence until they reached a door at the end of the hall. Bill held open the door for the other man - an action that received no thanks. The room they were now standing in was small and dim with a fireplace on one wall producing most of the light. The walls were painted a dark red and covered in tall bookshelves and paintings. In front of the fireplace was several armchairs and a large couch, a coffee table set in front of them, and a basket containing several large quilts and blankets.

Dipper turned his head back and forth several times to survey the space. "This is new," he said blandly. He walked over and slumped heavily into the armchair closest to the fire place.

The prince sighed again and collected a heavy quilt from the basket. He offered it up to Dipper, who regarded it for a moment before turning his head away without a response. "Dipper, please." Bill groaned. "Work with me here. I'm just trying to help you get warm."

Dipper glared back at him before snatching the quilt from his hands and tossing it haphazardly over himself. He roughly toed off his shoes and kicked them aside before pulling his feet up into the chair underneath the blanket.

Bill pulled a book from one of the bookshelves and sat down in a different armchair opposite from the other man. He draped a blanket over his lap and sat back in the chair. Silence fell between the two once more.

Bill flipped through the pages of his book idly, but he wasn't really reading any of the words. He stole a glance across the room at Dipper; with the exception of his head, his entire body was beneath the blanket. He was turned sideways in his seat facing the fireplace. _"He's never usually this quiet when he's angry with me,"_ Bill thought. _"He's usually quicker to take shots at me and then calm down afterwards. I know I overreacted and snapped at him, but even so this is strange for him."_

As Bill was watching him, Dipper turned his head back to face the prince. Bill quickly looked back down at his book once he'd realized he'd been caught. He waited a moment before looking back up, finding that Dipper was still watching him. Neither spoke, simply watched each other from across the room.

After several minutes, Dipper took a heavy breath and pushed the blanket from his shoulders onto his lap. "Okay, let's talk."

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**Wow, almost 5k words in one chapter is a doozie.**

**Hopefully chapter 14 will be out very soon! I can tell you now this conversation is going to get _heated_, so be prepared.**

**Thank you so much for all of the support and reviews, you guys have no idea how much it means to me!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Because I have a feeling this chapter will be a little shorter by necessity, I have a bit of a Q&A at the end of this chapter for some of the questions people have been sending me!**

**Enjoy chapter 14!**

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Bill's mouth was so dry it stung his throat when he swallowed. In his experience, no happy conversation had ever followed the words, 'let's talk.' When he could force no response from his mouth, he nodded.

"I'm angry at you," he said bluntly. Dipper's voice was not very loud, but his tone was piercing. Bill couldn't think of anything he could possibly say as a response, but Dipper didn't really give him a chance to give one. "I'm angry because I trusted you to protect me, but just now I..." He trailed off a moment. Dipper turned his head and blinked hard a couple of times. When he turned back and spoke again his voice was a little more broken than before. "I thought that _you_ were going to hurt me."

The words hung in the air for a moment. Bill felt as if they were falling on top of him, the shame of how he had acted baring down on him all at once. The book fell from his lap onto the carpet as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Dipper, I'm so sor-."

"Stop it." Dipper cut him off harshly. "I don't want to hear you apologize just so that you don't feel guilty."

Bill looked up at Dipper's hardened expression. It was a face he'd never seen on him before.

Dipper took a few heavy breaths before he continued, eyes trained on the fire place. "After everything that's happened the last couple of days, I've really started to enjoy being here and being with you. It's just that..." He shook his head suddenly. "I was _scared_, Bill. I was scared of _you_."

Bill waited a long moment to see if Dipper would continue. When he did not, Bill cleared his throat. "Dipper, I know you won't accept my apology right now. As much as I don't like it, I can accept that you upset; however, I know that my behavior towards you was unacceptable. I was angry and let something small upset me. I made a promise to you and I broke it, and that isn't acceptable. So I won't ask you to forgive me, but I do want to ask you one thing if you will allow me to."

Dipper looked back at him silently. His shoulders lowered and his breathing softened. His eyes were scrutinizing the prince from across the room, before nodding slowly.

"Why... why do you keep carrying on about Princess Pacifica the way that you do?" Bill rushed through his question quickly.

Again, there was a long pause before Dipper made any form of response. He sat completely still, blinking at the prince slowly. Suddenly, he sniffed loudly and swiped at his eyes with the back of his fist. When he stopped, Bill noted that Dipper was not crying, but his eyes did look watery and his cheeks were tinged pink. "Why does that matter right now?"

"Dipper," Bill said slowly, "answer the question."

Dipper shook his head minutely. "Stop trying to change the subject."

Bill didn't want to raise his voice, but it still happened. "Answer the question."

"Bill, I don't thi-."

"Dipper, please. It's a simple que-."

Dipper pinched his eyes closed and shook his head. "It doesn't matter!"

"It matters to me! Clearly it's something important if you keep bri-."

"It's because I'm jealous of her!"

"You're... what?" Bill leaned forward in his seat. The silence that fell between them made the air feel thick in the prince's lungs. He watched Dipper sitting in the armchair across from him; his fists were balled in the blanket on his lap, eyes tightly shut, and bottom lip quivering slightly.

"Please." Dipper's voice was so soft that Bill almost couldn't hear him. "Please don't make me say it again."

Bill pushed his own blanket from his lap and stepped around the coffee table to Dipper's side of the room. He knelt down in front of Dipper's feet and gently placed his hands on top of Dipper's balled fists. "Dipper," Bill lowered his voice to match the softness of his touch. "What reason would you have to be jealous of Pacifica?"

Dipper pulled his fists out from beneath Bill's hands. "I don't-. I'm not-." Dipper shook his head vigorously and swiped at his eyes. "I _don't_ want to talk you your right now. I'm still angry with you."

"That's okay, be mad at me for as long as you want to." Bill placed his hands gently on the sides of Dipper's face, halting his shaking head. Dipper opened his eyes and placed his hands around Bill's wrists; however, he wasn't making any attempt to push the prince's hands away. "I just want to know why you would feel that way about the princess."

"It's not..." Dipper's brown eyes flitted between Bill's blue ones. "It's not _her_." He corrected.

"Then what do yo-?"

Dipper picked his hand off of Bill's wrist and pressed two finger's against the prince's lips, effectively silencing him. "I'm really..." He swallowed hard. "I'm really not in the mood to listen to you speak."

Dipper's remark made him angry, but Bill felt it better to not respond all things considered. Instead, he simply lowered himself to sit in front of the chair and placed his hands in his lap.

"I'm not entirely sure how to say this. I don't _like_ talking about how I feel." Dipper blinked hard and looked towards the fireplace. "'Jealous' isn't exactly the right word." He paused again. His brows knit across his forehead and Bill swore he heard him whisper something; however, Dipper spoke again before Bill had the chance to. "You are the first person I've ever met that I've actually _wanted _to be close to. I _want_ you to care about me, and that's scary enough for me already. You're all I have right now, but you have more than just me..."

Dipper turned his head back to the prince, the corners of his eyes slightly damp. "I guess what I'm trying to say is: It's because I'm selfish." A small, choked laugh burst past Dipper's lips. "I guess I thought that the sooner you accepted Pacifica as a suitor, the sooner I could go home. But that's not all of it. I thought if I tried to push you two together, then... I wouldn't get attached to you. _I_ wouldn't feel like this when I had to leave." Dipper placed his hand flat against his chest before closing it around the ring dangling around his neck.

"Feel like..." Bill hesitated a moment. _"He said he didn't want me to talk."_ His question got the better of him nonetheless. "Feel like what?"

"I'm... angry. And sad. And bitter. And confused." Dipper spat, but there wasn't any venom behind it. "I've just been so-. So stupid thinking that _we_ could be friends." Another strained laugh seeped out as he spoke. "To think that we could be..."

"Dipper, why didn't you tell me tha-?"

Dipper stopped him again, this time by waving a hand in front of him. "I didn't want you to worry about it. I just wanted you to marry someone and let me go!" Dipper's voice was rising steadily in both volume and pitch. His bottom lip quivering and his eyes darting about the room. "I never wanted to get close to you! But I did! And look what's happened since then!" Dipper gestured to himself with one hand and tangled the fingers on the other into his hair. "I didn't even want to be _friends_ with you, and now I-." Dipper stopped abruptly. His quick breaths were shaky and his hands were trembling.

Again, Bill's better judgement failed him. "Dipper?" The prince's eyes struggled to catch the other man's gaze. Dipper's refusal to look at him was not going to stop him. "I don't usually want to make you tell me about how you're feeling, or what you're thinking. I know that there's things about your past that you likely won't ever want to tell me; however, just this once, I want to know what you aren't telling me."

"I've never," Dipper sucked in a sharp breath and blinked hard, "I've never felt like this about anyone before."

Bill placed one hand gently on top of the quilt on Dipper's leg. "Felt like _what,_ Dipper?"

Dipper set a shaky hand on top of Bill's and tightened it around Bill's first two fingers. "I've never _wanted_ someone before." Dipper's mouth hung open for a moment, and Bill waited for further explanation, but none came. A strange expression flitted across the brunettes face before he closed his mouth and said nothing more.

"Dipper, what do you mean by that?" Bill prompted.

Dipper shook his head but made no other response.

Bill continued to try to coax a response from the other man, but found his efforts ultimately fruitless. Eventually, the prince sighed in defeat and stood from his seat on the carpet. "Alright, I can see that you're done talking to me and that's alright. But it's late and we should be going to bed soon. We have a busy day tomorrow and an even busier one on Friday."

Dipper nodded and stood up from his seat. The blanket in his lap fell to the floor and he stepped over it to follow after the prince. His hand was still wrapped tightly around Bill's fingers as they walked in silence down the darkened corridor.

Bill guessed that it was well after midnight given that all of the lamps were extinguished, this usually meant all of the servants had gone to bed. When they reached his bedroom Dipper made immediately for the bed. Bill made a small noise to call his attention before gesturing to the dresser softly. "Dipper, you can't sleep in your slacks."

The brunette blinked slowly before walking to the dresser and collecting a set of pajamas. The prince watched him walk to the bathroom and latch the door.

_"Why does this always happen?"_ Bill thought sadly as he sat down in front of his mirror. _"Everything goes so well and then in an instant it all falls apart. I don't understand it."_

Dipper emerged from the bathroom silently, now wearing a fresh set of clothes. Wordlessly, he set his day-clothes on floor beside the bathroom door and then walked to the bed. Within seconds Dipper was underneath the covers and completely still.

The prince watched him silently for a long while. _"I've been trying so hard to convince him to open up to me, and now he finally has but immediately shut down afterwards. Why does he have such a hard time showing how he feels?"_ Bill shed his own clothes and changed quickly. He began to move towards the bed when a realization struck him, _"Dipper has never once asked how I feel. Not about him, or Pacifica, or any of this whole situation. Why? Doesn't he want to know? Wouldn't he be less confused if he just asked **me** how I feel about him?"_

Dipper shifted underneath the covers, and Bill wondered if his thoughts were so loud in his head that Dipper could hear them.

_"But maybe... maybe I haven't even asked myself about how I feel."_

Bill yawned quietly and rubbed his eyes with the back of his fist. He lowered himself down onto the bed and pulled the covers up over his lap. The prince cast a glance at the back of Dipper's head and listened to the man's soft breathing. He briefly wondered if Dipper would yell at him if the prince tried to wrap his arms around him. Dipper's presence had brought some relief from Bill's overflowing mind in the past days; however, he dismissed the idea immediately.

"Dipper, I'm sorry again for what I said and for what I did," Bill mumbled softly. As expected, Dipper made no form of response to the statement. Bill sighed dejectedly before reaching over to turn out the lamp at the bedside. "Goodnight."

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**I promise there is a good reason that this chapter is so short, but you're going to need to wait to find out. But, in case you're interested, here's that Q&A I promised:**

**Q: Why do they fight so much? It's hurting my poor heart!  
****A: **The simple answer is that I am a slut for some good angst. The more complicated answer is that they are both dealing with a lot of emotions in a very difficult situation. On top of this, Bill & Dipper are two incredibly headstrong individuals and like to mess with each other.

**Q: Is Mabel going to show up in the story again?  
****A:** Yes, she will show up again. Although anyone looking for a lot of wholesome Pines twins may be a little disappointed because she doesn't play a huge part.

**Q: Is the conversation about Gravity Falls important? Like what Dipper said about magic and stuff?  
****A:** Most of that conversation was just about the urban legend about Gravity Falls. In my mind they're a very superstitious middle-of-nowhere kind of people and so stories about magic and monsters are pretty common. It's not super important to the rest of the story, other than providing a little bit of Dipper's backstory.

**Q:** **Am I allowed to kill the scumbag from Dipper's flashback?  
****A:** Weeeellll... I mean you can try?

**Q: Does Dipper need a hug? Like is he okay?  
****A:** He doesn't like hugs. No one in this story is okay.

**Q: Who's your favorite character?  
A:** In the show? Bill. In my story? Also Bill.

**Please keep sending me more questions and comments! Your reviews and support really help me keep this going!**


	15. Chapter 15

**So sorry for the delay on getting this chapter out; as you guys know stuff as been crazy lately. I had to move home from college because of everything that's going on and had to completely put this story on hold, but we're back now!**

**Quite a bit happens in this chapter because I have a specific direction I want this story to go and I'm trying to push it that way as coherently as possible.**

**Thank you again to everyone who is reading and leaving reviews! Every comment is a huge confidence boost :)**

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He had been up for hours before his valet came into the room to wake him - granted, he hadn't really slept much anyways.

But, in all honesty, the prince did not make much of a habit of waking up early. In fact, the valet seemed surprised to see him awake at all much less out of bed and sitting at his desk with a stack of sealed envelopes at his side. However, the prince did not seem to hear him come into the room as he was so focused on finishing his writing.

_"...it is for this reason that I believe you will be able to help us find Dipper's village. If you are able, please look out any maps of the land to your north and we will help you look when we arrive. Thank you again for your help, it means more to me than you know." _He dropped the quill to the side after signing his name at the bottom of the page.

"Good morning, my lord." The valet made his way towards the wardrobe, eyeing the back of the prince's head as he did. "Am I to assume that I am dressing you this morning?"

"Hm? Oh yes, yes." Bill set his quill back in its holder before standing. "Just a moment, I need to finish this." He collected the paper's he'd been writing on from the desk and folded them carefully before placing them into an envelope and sealing it shut. "I'll need this sent to the postmaster before lunch."

The valet shut the wardrobe door and placed the clothes he gathered onto the dressing table stool. "Of course, my lord." The valet cast a glance towards the still figure still lying in the prince's bed. "Should I set out clothes for your servant, sir?"

"Ah..." Bill stopped even with the foot of his bed. He watched Dipper's steady breathing for a moment before shaking his head. "No, he's fine. I'll dress him when he wakes up."

"Very well, sir." The valet handed Bill a clean pressed shirt before grabbing for a pair of brown slacks. "Given your activities for the day, I assume that this suit will be acceptable."

Bill finished buttoning the shirt before slipping on the slacks with a nod. "I'll pass on the jacket; I have a feeling I will be inside most of the day." He held out his arm to allow the valet to fasten his cuff links. "Remind me, what's on the agenda for the day?"

"You are having breakfast in your room this morning; it should be delivered shortly. After breakfast I will be ensuring that your suit for the party fits and doesn't need any mending. Her ladyship has asked me to remind you to ensure everything is squared away with the carriages. Your afternoon is free until dinner tonight, after which the tailor should be coming by with your servant's suit." He ticked each task off on his fingers after the cuff links had been fastened. The valet held up a light grey vest and Bill turned to allow it to be slipped on.

"Busy day," Bill remarked with a dry chuckle. He fastened the buttons on the vest before smoothing down the sides.

The valet folded the pajamas and placed them into the wardrobe. "Are you styling your hair today, my lord?"

"Ah." Bill turned to the mirror and rand his fingers through his hair, ruffling away his bedhead. "No, if I'm going to be changing clothes it will just get messed up again. Very well, that should be all for now. I'll see you after breakfast then?"

The valet nodded and headed towards the door. "Yes, sir. Your breakfast should be here soon."

"Oh!" The valet paused at this. "The letter. I've let it on my desk, if you could put it in the hall box for me."

"Of course, my lord." He collected the sealed envelope and glanced at the name written on the front. "Writing to the princess, sir?"

Bill smiled and pulled at his collar. "Yes, I had something I wanted to tell her before we arrived tomorrow evening."

"Are we expecting to see more of her, sir?" The valet raised an eyebrow and tapped the envelope against the flat of his palm as he walked to the door. "The queen would be very pleased if that was the case."

"I'm not entirely sure." The prince chuckled. "I'll see you after breakfast."

Bill watched the door close and stayed facing the door until he could no longer hear footsteps in the hall. He let out a heavy sigh and slumped into the dressing table chair.

"We don't have time for all of this right now Dipper..." He mumbled, eyes shifting to the bed. He watched the steady rise and fall of Dipper's shoulders beneath the blanket. "Please tell me you're going to speak to me now." He stood from the chair and stepped around to Dipper's side of the bed. The mattress sunk beneath his weight as he sat down gently beside the sleeping figure. Bill's hand hung in the air a moment before he placed it on Dipper's shoulder. "Dipper, it's time to get up. Breakfast will be here soon."

Dipper shook his shoulder quickly out of the prince's grasp before rolling over to face the other direction.

"Dipper, please. I know you're probably still upset with me, and you are perfectly allowed to be," Bill said gently. "But you cannot stay in bed all day. We have things we need to do."

The brunette heaved out a sigh before rolling over flat on his back, arms outstretched to his sides, his now open eyes falling on the prince. He pursed his lips several times and Bill braced himself for a harsh remark. Much to the prince's surprise, Dipper sat up quickly and wrapped his arms tightly around the prince's shoulders.

Bill hesitated a moment before lightly returning the gesture and patting his hand gently on Dipper's back. The prince quirked an eyebrow, an action Dipper obviously could not see. "Dipper?"

"I'm sorry for what I said last night," Dipper mumbled. He took another deep breath. "I was just..." He released Bill from his hold and moved to where his legs were hanging off the bed. "Never mind it isn't important."

When Dipper made to stand up, Bill grabbed for his hand. "Why are you apologizing? I was the one in the wrong. And as for what _you_ said, I think you-."

"Bill, it's fine. We have more important things to do right now." Dipper pulled his hand free and stepped around the bed towards the bathroom.

The prince followed him with his eyes until he had to turn to watch him. _"That was... odd."_ He thought.

Dipper stopped when he grabbed the doorknob and turned to look over his shoulder. "Bill, don't think I'm not still upset at you. Because I am. We just have more important things to worry about right now than last night." He turned back to the bathroom and went in, shutting and locking the door behind him.

_"Very odd indeed." _Bill watched the closed door for a moment. _"That was not very like him at all..."_ Bill shook his head quickly and stood up. He pulled down on the bottom of the vest to straighten it and walked back towards his desk. "Well then... If he isn't going to talk about it then neither will I."

Bill sat down and pulled a plank piece of paper towards him and grabbed the quill from its holder; however, he had already written all the letters he needed to write for the day. _"I suppose I could go down to speak to the head coachman while Dipper gets dressed..." _He wrote the start of a note to tell Dipper where he was going, but shortly after he began the bathroom door opened and Dipper started to get dressed. The prince heard the door open and crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the waste basket. _"Ah, even better. He can come with me."_

"What were you writing?" Dipper asked as he buttoned his white dress shirt.

"It isn't important now." Bill waved a dismissive hand and placed the quill back in its holder. "Breakfast will be here soon and then we will need to go down to speak to the coachman about the carriages."

Dipper sat on the arm of an armchair and pulled on a pair of clean socks and brown shoes. "I thought you got that sorted yesterday?"

"Well I was going to, but..." Bill cleared his throat stiffly. He opened his mouth to continue but was stopped by a knock at the door. "Well never mind. Our breakfast is here."

He walked to the door and opened it to allow two maids carrying trays to enter the room. One carried a tray with plates of fruits and pastries, the other They set the trays on the table in front of the couch and armchairs and gave a short curtsy as they left the two to eat.

Dipper slid backwards over the armrest into the chair, his legs hanging over one end and his head over the other. He grabbed a scone from one of the trays and took a few bites while staring idly out of the window on the far side of the room. Without looking away from the window Dipper asked, "do you need me to go down with you to get the carriage arranged?"

"No, I don't _need_ you to go with me." Bill scanned Dipper with curious eyes as he sat down across from the brunette. He twisted his ring around his finger absentmindedly. "I suppose I just assumed that you wouldn't want to be left alone in here."

Dipper blinked hard and shook his head quickly before turning to look at the prince. "I-I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. Of course, I'll go with you."

"Alright then..." Bill said awkwardly. He sat back in his chair and glanced out the window a few times. He swallowed hard before standing up quickly and walking towards the door.

Dipper swung his legs to the front of the chair and stood up to follow after him. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back," Bill waved a hand beside his head as he opened the door. "I won't be long I promise, finish your breakfast and ring when you're done."

Dipper took a few steps to get around the table and glanced down at the trays of food. "You haven't eaten anything; do you want me to-?"

"No, no." Bill stepped through the open door. As he closed it, he called over his shoulder, "I've rather lost my appetite."

Once the door had closed, Bill stood against the door facing the empty hallway. He leaned his head back against the hard wood of the door frame with a heavy sigh. "What am I even doing out here? It's not like I have anything I need to do," he mumbled. Bill straightened reached back for the door handle but stopped short. He closed his fist just short of the handle and shook it in frustration. He sighed and turned on his heel and began walking down the hallway. Bill trudged slowly down the winding corridors, absentmindedly chewing his bottom lip.

"You know, William, you're going to chew your lip off if you keep that up." Came his mother's voice from somewhere down the hall.

Bill released his lip and looked up. "Ah. Hello mother. How are you this morning?"

"I'm perfectly well, but you don't look well at all dear." She walked down the hall towards him and extended a glove hand for him to take. "Come have some tea with me and we can talk about it."

"Mother I'm fine, I promise." Bill contested; however, he allowed her to lead him down the hall to her sitting room.

It was a cozy room he had been in many times when he was younger and still be carted around by nannies and governesses being shown off to all of his mother's friends. It was always warm and comfortable, and he had never once been in there when there was not a steaming cup of tea on the coffee table, and this time was no different. There were several plush, white armchairs seated in a half-circle around a white marble fireplace. The rosy-pink walls were covered in many portraits and paintings set in ornate, gold frames.

The queen pulled a gold call rope and sat in one of the several armchairs, motioning for Bill to sit in the one closest to her. A maid entered soon after they sat down carrying a silver tray with another steaming cup and saucer and offered it to the prince.

Bill placed the saucer on a side table beside his chair and cleared his throat. "I really can't stay long; I've left Dipper in my room and-."

"Well then, you must tell me quickly what is wrong, mustn't you?" She smiled softly.

The prince sighed and let slip a small nervous smile. "I guess you could say I'm having... relationship problems."

His mother giggled and took a sip of her tea. "Oh? Is that what it is then? What seems to be the problem?"

"I've done something to upset someone I care about and I fear that I won't be able to fix things between us," Bill said sadly. He looked away from her and took a sip of his own tea.

"My dear," she placed a gloved hand on his knee, "I don't believe we can do anything that is completely beyond forgiveness. What did you do that was so upsetting to her?"

Bill looked back at her quickly, slightly choking on his tea. "'Her'?" He spluttered. "Why do you assume I am talking about a 'her'?"

"Oh? Were you not talking about the princess, dear?" She pulled her hand back with a surprised look.

Bill laughed and set his cup down again. "Well, no. I was not actually."

"Well then," she paused to take another drink of her tea, "whoever it is I promise you they won't stay upset with forever. But darling, you must give them time. We all get through things in our own way and in our own time." She set down her cup and reached to cup her son's cheek with her hand. "You must try to understand that."

Bill placed his hand softly over his mother's. "Thank you, mom, you always know what to say." He pulled down her hand and kissed the top of her knuckles. "Thank you for the tea, but I must get back now. I promised I would not be gone for long." He stood and walked to the door. As he opened it, he was stopped by his mother calling to him and turned to look at her.

She tilted her head with a curious smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "William, this person means a lot to you, don't they?"

The prince looked down at his hand on the doorknob. "Yes. They do."

"My dear, when you care about someone, you need to fight for them." He looked back at her for a long moment, but she was now gazing wistfully into the lit fireplace seemingly lost in thought.

He quietly stepped back into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind him. He began to walk down the corridor back towards his room to collect Dipper. _"I wonder if she would be so understanding if she knew who I was talking about. 'Oh yes, darling, you must try extra hard to be understanding towards this slave-boy you care so much about',"_ He thought with an incredulous smile. It was rather strange to him to think of his parents as being incredibly understanding and accepting of anything less that expectation. _"But she did make me realize something; I need to talk to Dipper, but not right now. He's been through so much that I couldn't possibly understand. Of course, he's going to be upset right now. And even if I don't want him to be angry with me, I have to let him get through this in his own time."_

He arrived at the bedroom door and paused a few steps short. He could hear muffled voices on the other side of the door and had to stop himself from throwing the door open in a panic. With his hand on the doorknob he stopped for a moment to listen. One of the voices clearly belonged to Dipper, and after a moment he could make out the other voice to be his valet's. The prince took a leveling breath and opened the door as calmly as he could.

"-quite impressive, I must say." He saw the valet standing over by his desk with a few articles of clothing draped over one of his arms. Dipper was sitting at the desk holding a piece of marked parchment in his hand.

Dipper looked down at the paper in his hand and smiled. "I think so too. I'm much better at painting than drawing, but it turned out pretty well."

Bill took a few steps into the room and shut the door. The sound of the door closing called attention to himself. The pair turned to look at him and Dipper set the parchment down on the desk.

"What's this that we're looking at?" Bill questioned as he walked over the desk. He put his hand on the back of Dipper's chair and leaned forward over his back to look at the paper.

"Dipper was showing me the drawing of you that he made, my lord," the valet explained. He turned and walked towards the wardrobe and continued setting out articles of clothing.

Bill picked up the parchment and held it more into the light. Dipper had drawn a small portrait of Bill, similar to one of the paintings of him in the hall. He had drawn him smiling with a cornflower tucked into his hair just above his ear. "You drew this? Of me?" Bill looked between the picture and Dipper who was shifting in his seat.

"Well I-. I mean-." Dipper stood up and waved his hands up beside his head. "I was bored, and you weren't here."

Bill held back a contented smile and folded the parchment. "Well, it's very good. I'm going to keep it." He placed the folded paper into his front chest pocket and patted his hand on top of it.

"You do whatever you want, your highness," Dipper huffed. He sat down on the side of the bed and toed off his shoes. Going solely off the pink tinged on his cheeks, Bill thought Dipper looked rather flustered by the situation.

"My lord, I have your party clothes laid out. I am to have you try them on to ensure they still fit and don't need any mending." The valet called for the Prince's attention from over by the wardrobe.

"Right, right. I'm coming." Bill stepped around the desk towards where his valet was standing. Bill unbuttoned his vest and toed off his own shoes, dropping the vest onto the floor on top of his shoes.

In a matter of minutes, he was changed into a freshly pressed white dress shirt, white slacks, and a gold vest with newly shined black shoes. The valet flattened the shoulders of his vest before flipping up the collar of his shirt and slipping a black tie around his neck. Once it was knotted, he tucked the end under the vest and turned to collect a white tailcoat from the back of a chair. Bill turned to allow it to be slipped on and he shrugged his shoulders until it sat correctly. Bill turned back and extended his arms out so he could fasten the cuff links.

"There we are my lord." The valet stepped to the side to allow Bill to look at himself in the standing mirror beside the dressing table. "Does everything seem right?"

Bill spun left and then right, glancing himself up and down in the mirror. "It seems right to me." Bill turned to face Dipper who was sitting on the bed fiddling with the hem of his pant leg. "What do you think?"

Dipper looked up and glanced from his shoes to his vest to his jacket. Dipper pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side. "I think you have a tear in the seam at your right shoulder."

"Well that's a shame." Bill turned back to the mirror and brushed his hair from his face. He turned to his valet who had stepped to his right side to inspect the tear. "Do we have time to fix it?"

"I believe so." His valet helped him to remove the jacket and he turned it around several times to look more closely at the tear. After a moment he folded the jacket over his arm and looked up. "I should have it mended by the time you're finished with dinner. You are lucky, my lord. Dipper has very sharp eyes. I hadn't even noticed the seam had torn."

Bill smiled over his shoulder at Dipper who only shrugged in response. He turned back and began to remove the suit pieces he was still wearing. "Perfect. Dipper's suit should be here by then. I trust you'll be able to help him with making sure it fits?"

"Of course, my lord." As Bill shed his clothes and changed back into his day clothes, his valet collected each piece and folded them carefully and placed them in a neat pile on the chair. "Don't forget to have the carriage sorted after we are finished, sir."

"Right, right." Bill clasped his cuff links and adjusted his shirt collar. "When Dipper's suit arrives have it brought to my room. I won't be changing before dinner, so I'll see you again after?"

The valet nodded and collected the pile of clothes. "Yes, sir. Once I mend your coat, I will begin packing your cases. Is there anything you want to ensure goes with you?"

"No, not particularly." He paused in thought with a glance in Dipper's direction. "Actually, I would like to bring my blue tie. The one with the silver detailing on it."

"Of course, my lord. I'll go and find it." His valet bowed before leaving the room with the clothes in his arm.

Bill heard Dipper click his tongue behind him and turned. He was leaned back on his elbows with one leg dangling off of the bed. "Well, I'm amazed."

Bill knelt down to pick up his discarded shoes before sitting beside Dipper on the bed. "Amazed by what? How dashing I look in a suit?"

"What? No." Dipper scoffed. "I _mean_ I'm amazed that you know someone that I actually like."

"Oh, that." Bill chuckled. "Well, that's a point in my favor I guess?" He leaned down to slip on his shoes and tie the laces. "Alright, are you ready to go?"

Dipper sat up off of his elbows and turned to look at him. "Why wouldn't I be? I literally have done nothing but sit here in this room _being_ ready all morning."

"Ah." Bill's eye flicked to Dipper's face and away again quickly. After a long moment of silence, Bill stood up and cleared his throat. "Alright then. Let's go."


End file.
